Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Brother Industries, Ltd.

Atsushi Fukaya

Shougo Sato

Hideshi Nishiyama

Aya Adachi

Nao Itabashi

Hiroki Mori

Masaaki Furukawa

Ryosuke Hayashi

Tsubasa Kiriyama

Naoya Kamimura

Koji Abe

Tomoya Ichikawa

Takashi Shimizu

Soun Kanada

Hiroya Fukuta

Hirofumi Kuriki

Keita Shimizu

Keigo Nakajima

Shota Iriyama

Shinya Kusuda

Daisuke Maeta

A drum cartridge includes: a photosensitive drum; a drum frame; a drum coupling; and an electrical contact surface. The photosensitive drum is rotatable about an axis extending in a first direction. The drum frame has one end portion in a second direction at which the photosensitive drum is positioned. The drum coupling is rotatable together with the photosensitive drum. The drum coupling is positioned at an outer surface of one side in the first direction of the drum frame. The electrical contact surface is positioned closer to another side in the second direction of the drum frame than the drum coupling is to the another side in the second direction of the drum frame.

Drum cartridge having electrical contact surface positioned at outer surface of drum frame

An image forming apparatus, including a casing, a toner cartridge, and a process cartridge, is provided. The toner cartridge detachably attached to the casing stores toner therein. The process cartridge detachably attached to the casing includes a developing unit and a drum unit. The developing unit includes a developer roller and a toner conveyer tube. The toner conveyer tube has a first opening, through which the toner from the toner cartridge is acceptable into the toner conveyer tube while the toner cartridge and the process cartridge are attached to the casing. The drum unit includes a photosensitive drum supporting the toner conveyer tube by contacting a circumferential surface of the toner conveyer tube. The developing unit is pivotable with respect to the drum unit with the toner conveyer tube and the drum unit being slidable on each other.

Image forming apparatus including LED array attached to top cover

A developing cartridge includes: a casing configured to accommodate therein toner; a developing roller; a supply roller configured to supply the toner to the developing roller; a layer thickness regulation blade in contact with a circumferential surface of the developing roller; a developing electrode electrically connected to the developing roller; and a supply electrode electrically connected to the supply roller and the layer thickness regulation blade. The supply electrode includes: an electrode member electrically connected to a rotation shaft of the supply roller and movable in a direction perpendicular to the rotation shaft; and a connection member in contact with and electrically connecting the electrode member and the layer thickness regulation blade. The electrode member is movable relative to the connection member in the direction perpendicular to the rotation shaft in a state where the electrode member is in contact with the connection member.

Developing cartridge including supply roller, layer thickness regulation blade, and supply electrode electrically connected to both supply roller and layer thickness regulation blade

An image forming apparatus includes a casing, a toner cartridge, and a process cartridge. The toner cartridge detachably attached to the casing stores toner therein. The process cartridge detachably attached to the casing includes a developing unit and a drum unit. The developing unit includes a developer roller and a toner conveyer tube. The toner conveyer tube has a first opening, through which the toner from the toner cartridge is acceptable into the toner conveyer tube while the toner cartridge and the process cartridge are attached to the casing. The drum unit includes a photosensitive drum supporting the toner conveyer tube by contacting a circumferential surface of the toner conveyer tube. The developing unit is pivotable with respect to the drum unit with the toner conveyer tube and the drum unit being slidable on each other.

A developing cartridge includes: a developing roller rotatable about an axis extending in a first direction; a casing; a first cam and a first gear rotatable together relative to the casing about a first axis extending in the first direction; and a second cam and a second gear rotatable together relative to the casing about a second axis extending in the first direction. The second gear contacts the first gear. When the developing cartridge is attached to a drum cartridge including a photosensitive drum: at a first position of the first cam, the second cam is at a third position and the developing roller and the photosensitive drum contact each other; and at a second position of the first cam, the second cam is at a fourth position and contacts a part of the drum cartridge to move the developing cartridge to separate the developing roller from the photosensitive drum.

Developing cartridge including first cam rotatable with first gear and second cam rotatable with second gear to separate developing roller from photosensitive drum

A process cartridge including a drum cartridge, a developing cartridge, and a waste toner container, is provided. The drum cartridge includes a photosensitive drum including a photosensitive layer and a rotation axis extending in an axial direction, a drum cleaner arranged to contact the photosensitive drum, a cleaner frame configured to accommodate the drum cleaner therein, and a waste toner conveyer tube connected with the cleaner frame. The developing cartridge is movable to be attached to and detached from the drum cartridge and includes a developer roller. The waste toner container is movable to be attached to and detached from the drum cartridge. When the developing cartridge and the waste toner container are attached to the drum cartridge, the waste toner container is connected with the waste toner conveyer tube and is located on an opposite side of the developing cartridge to the photosensitive drum.

Process cartridge and image forming apparatus

A toner cartridge includes a casing, a developing roller, a holder, a toner memory, an electrical contact and a wiring. The holder is positioned at an outer surface of one side in a first direction of the casing. The electric contact surface is positioned at an outer surface of one side in a second direction of the holder. The second direction crosses the electric contact surface. The electrical contact is positioned on an outer surface of another side in the second direction of the holder. The wiring electrically connects the electrical contact and the electric contact surface. The electric contact surface includes a first electric contact surface and a second electric contact surface. The first electric contact surface electrically is connected to the electrical contact through the wiring. The second electric contact surface electrically is connected to the toner memory.

Toner cartridge having toner memory and attachable to drum cartridge having drum memory

A process cartridge having a drum cartridge and a toner cartridge is provided. The drum cartridge includes a photosensitive drum, a cleaner, a conveyer tube, a developing roller, and a developing device. The toner cartridge is attachable to the drum cartridge and is located on a side of the developing roller opposite to the photosensitive drum in an attaching direction. The toner cartridge includes a waste toner container to store the toner conveyed through the conveyer tube and a toner container to store the toner to be supplied to the photosensitive drum. The toner container communicates with a developing chamber in the developing device and is located at least partly between the waste toner container and the developing chamber. The conveyer tube extends in the attaching direction and is arranged to overlap the photosensitive drum, the toner container, and the waste toner container in a view along an axial direction.

Process cartridge having drum cartridge, toner cartridge and waste toner conveyor tube

A photosensitive drum rotates about a first axis extending in a first direction. A photosensitive drum is located at one end portion of a housing in a second direction. A cleaning roller cleans a surface of the photosensitive drum. The cleaning roller rotates about a second axis extending in the first direction. A cleaning electrode is electrically connected to the cleaning roller. The cleaning electrode is located at an outer surface of the housing in the first direction. The cleaning electrode is located at a tip end of the one end portion of the housing in the second direction. The cleaning electrode includes a contact surface and a guide surface. The contact surface contacts an electrical contact to which a voltage is supplied. The contact surface is perpendicular to the first direction. The guide surface guides the electrical contact to the contact surface when the drum cartridge is mounted.

Drum cartridge and image forming apparatus

A process cartridge, comprising: a drum cartridge; and a waste toner case, the drum cartridge comprising: a development roller; a first side wall to support one end of a shaft of the development roller; a second wall to support the other end of the shaft; a photosensitive drum; a cleaner; and a conveying tube, the conveying tube comprising: a first part disposed on an opposite side of the second side wall with respect to the first side wall in an axis direction, the first part being connected to the cleaner; a second part disposed closer to the second side wall relative to the first part and connected to the waste toner case; and a third part connecting the first part with the second part, wherein a direction in which the waste toner case is attached is equal to a direction in which the second part extends.

Growing community of inventors

Toyohashi, Japan

Atsushi Fukaya