Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Brother Industries, Ltd.

Fumikazu Sato

Naoya Kamimura

Makoto Ishii

Fumio Morita

Hideshi Nishiyama

Nao Itabashi

Yasuo Fukamachi

Motoaki Mushika

Tsutomu Suzuki

Mitsuru Horinoe

Hideaki Deguchi

Hikaru Yoshizumi

Takahiro Nishimoto

Masatoshi Shiraki

Soichiro Nishimura

Takashi Shimizu

Isao Kishi

Satoru Ishikawa

Takeshi Fuwazaki

Shougo Sato

Yasushi Okabe

Shota Shinoya

Masatoshi Sakaguchi

Masahiro Ishii

Yoshinori Ito

Tsuyoshi Suzuki

Hiroyuki Kato

Hiroshi Tokuda

Yukiko Nakaya

Hiroya Fukuta

Kunihiko Kondo

Naoto Ozeki

Ikunobu Yoshiyama

Hedeaki Deguchi

Aspects described herein relate to a cap for a toner cartridge. In one example, the cap may be configured to close a toner supply opening of the toner cartridge. According to one or more aspects, the cap may include a sealing or covering portion configured to cover the toner supply opening and a shaft portion for rotatably supporting a to-be-detected rotary member. The to-be-detected rotary memberis rotatably supported around and fitted onto the shaft portion. Therefore, even if a toner supply opening of a cartridge is provided in a sidewall of the housing on a side where the to-be-detected rotary member is provided, e.g., a left sidewall, the toner supply opening and the to-be-detected rotary member can be provided in such a manner as to overlap each other.

Cap configuration for a toner cartridge

A process cartridge includes: a photoconductor having a peripheral surface; a first roller having a peripheral surface to be pressed against the peripheral surface of the photoconductor and configured to rotate around a first axis of rotation; a second roller having a peripheral surface to be pressed against the peripheral surface of the first roller and configured to rotate around a second axis of rotation which is parallel to the first axis of rotation; a first urging member configured to urge the first roller and the second roller in a first direction toward the photoconductor; and a second urging member configured to urge the second roller in a second direction toward the first roller. The second urging member is arranged such that the second direction is parallel to the first direction.

Process cartridge

A process cartridge, which includes a developing cartridge and a photosensitive cartridge for use with an image forming apparatus including a driving force output part and a feeding part, is provided. The developing cartridge includes a developer carrier, a first electrode provided at one side thereof, and a driving force receiving part provided at another side thereof and aligned with the first electrode such that the driving force receiving part overlaps the first electrode in a side view. The photosensitive cartridge, to which the developing cartridge is removably mounted, includes a photosensitive member, and a second electrode that contacts the first electrode when the developing cartridge is mounted in the photosensitive cartridge and that contacts the feeding part when the photosensitive cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus. The first electrode is pressed toward the driving force receiving part by contact with the second electrode.

Developing cartridge

The developer cartridge includes a developing roller, a supply roller, a gear, a first intermediate gear, a second intermediate gear, a developing roller gear, and a supply roller gear. The supply roller is in contact with the developing roller. The gear is configured to receive a drive force from an outside. The first intermediate gear is provided to a supply roller shaft such that the first intermediate gear is rotatable relative to the supply roller shaft. The developing roller gear is provided to a developing roller shaft such that the developing roller gear is unrotatable relative to the developing roller shaft. The developing roller gear is engaged with the second intermediate gear. The supply roller gear is provided to the supply roller shaft such that the supply roller gear is unrotatable relative to the supply roller shaft. The supply roller gear is engaged with the second intermediate gear.

Developer cartridge having developing roller

A cartridge is detachably mountable on a main casing. The main casing is provided with a coupling member providing a driving force. The cartridge comprises: a first roller extending in a first direction and configured to rotate about a first rotational axis; a driving force receiving portion configured to receive the driving force from the coupling member to drive the first roller and rotate about a second rotational axis, the driving force receiving portion comprising a contact portion configured to be in contact with the coupling member; and a first gear comprising a gear tooth, the gear being configured to transmit the driving force received at the driving force receiving portion to the first roller. The contact portion is overlapped with the gear tooth when projected in the first direction.

Cartridge detachably mounted on main casing

The developer cartridge includes a developing roller, a supply roller, an input gear, a developing roller gear, a supply roller gear, a first intermediate gear, and a second intermediate gear. The input gear is inputted with a drive force from an outside. The developing roller gear rotates about a first axis to drive the developing roller by the drive force. The supply roller gear rotates about a second axis parallel to the first axis to drive the supply roller by the drive force. The first intermediate gear rotates about the second axis. The first intermediate gear engages the input gear to receive the drive force therefrom. The second intermediate gear is engaged with the first intermediate gear and the developing roller gear so as to transmit the drive force from the first intermediate gear to the developing roller gear.

A cartridge may include a transfer roller, a photoconductor drum and a transfer electrode. In one or more examples, the transfer electrode may be disposed on a first side of the transfer roller while the photoconductor drum is disposed on a second side of the transfer roller, where the second side is opposite to the first side. The transfer electrode may further include ribs configured to aid in placement or positioning of the transfer electrode in one or more directions.

Cartridge configuration for maintaining contact between a transfer roller and a drum

A cartridge for use with an image forming apparatus that includes a frame to which the cartridge can be mounted is provided. The cartridge includes a developer carrier, a first electrode provided at one side thereof, and a housing including a bulkhead. Frame includes a second electrode that is configured to electrically couple to the first electrode The second electrode and the bulkhead are arranged to overlap each other when viewed from a longitudinal direction.

Developing cartridge for use with an image forming apparatus having a frame to which the cartridge can be mounted

A cartridge including: a housing including a first side wall and a second side wall which are opposed to each other; a driving input member provided to the first side wall and is configured to rotate; and a first rotary member provided at an outer side of the first side wall and is configured to rotate about a first rotational axis in response to a rotational driving force from the driving input member, wherein the first rotary member includes a protrusion protruding to the outer side, wherein the first rotary member is configured to be moved relative to the first side wall in a direction along the first rotational axis, and wherein an end portion of the first rotary member at an opposite side of the first side wall is configured to be displaced in a direction crossing the first rotational axis.

Cartridge

There is provided a cartridge including an image carrier, a first frame, a second frame, a peeling member and a pressing portion. The first frame has a pair of first wall portions rotatably supporting the image carrier and a second wall portion extending along an axis direction of the image carrier to connect the pair of first wall portions. The second frame is attached to the first frame so as to cover the image carrier. The peeling member has a peeling portion projecting from the second wall portion toward the image carrier and being configured to peel off a sheet from the image carrier by the peeling portion. The pressing portion is provided to the second frame, which is configured to move the peeling portion closer to the image carrier by pressing and elastically deforming the second wall portion.

Cartridge having peeling member configured to peel off sheet from image carrier

Growing community of inventors

Konan, Japan

Fumikazu Sato