Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Fumito Nonaka

Shunsuke Uratani

Hiroomi Matsuzaki

Koji Yamaguchi

Yuichi Fukui

Makoto Hayashida

Takeshi Kubota

Ryuta Murakami

Takuya Kawakami

Toshiki Fujino

Shinichi Nishida

Toru Oguma

Tachio Kawai

Nobuharu Hoshi

Toshiteru Yamasaki

Naoki Hayashi

Hiroyuki Munetsugu

Tomonori Mori

Toshiyuki Karakama

Isao Ikemoto

Teruhiko Sasaki

Shinya Noda

Tetsuya Numata

Yoshiyuki Batori

Tetsuo Uesugi

Yuuki Nakamura

Hironobu Isobe

Shigemi Kamoshida

Noritomo Yamaguchi

Tatsuya Shiratori

Issei Imamura

Shogo Satomura

Shinji Goto

Hiraku Sasaki

Kohichi Takahashi

Akira Suzuki

Hiroshi Goto

Shinichi Sasaki

Akira Higeta

Hiroki Ogino

Kohei Matsuda

Kazuki Matsumoto

Masafumi Maeda

Seiichi Shinohara

Yasushi Katsuta

Kazunori Hashimoto

Tetsuya Nishiguchi

Yasunori Toriyama

Masahide Tanoue

Yoshiyuki Miyazaki

Seietsu Miura

Junko Hirata

Yoshihisa Ibaraki

Nobuya Tamura

An image forming apparatus, to which a cartridge including a developer accommodating portion for accommodating a developer is detachably mountable, includes an image bearing member, an exposure unit configured to expose the image bearing member to light to form an electrostatic latent image on the image bearing member, a light receiving sensor provided in the cartridge and configured to receive the light emitted from the exposure unit, and a controller configured to detect vibration of the cartridge from a light reception value of the light received by the light receiving sensor. In a case in which the cartridge is removed from the image forming apparatus, the light receiving sensor is removed from the image forming apparatus together with the cartridge.

Image forming apparatus

A developer accommodating unit includes a frame that has an opening for discharging a developer, and a sealing unit that has a sealing portion for sealing the opening, in which a state of the sealing unit is capable of changing from a first state in which the sealing portion seals the opening to a second state in which the opening is opened. A tip of a first part is positioned on a downstream side of the base of the first part in a first direction if the sealing unit is in the first state, and the first part is deformed such that the tip of the first part is positioned on an upstream side of the base of the first part in the first direction if the state of the sealing unit changes from the first state to the second state.

Developer accommodating unit, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A cartridge includes a cartridge frame member including a developer accommodation portion, an image bearing member rotatably provided to the cartridge frame member, an end sealing provided to the cartridge frame member and abutting on an end of the image bearing member in a longitudinal direction, a cleaning unit for acting on the image bearing member, a sealing portion integrally provided with the cartridge frame member and abut on an end of the cleaning unit in the longitudinal direction, a sheet member provided along the longitudinal direction and abut on the image bearing member at an end of the sheet member in a direction that crosses the longitudinal direction, and a fixing portion for fixing the sheet member and the cartridge frame member. The sealing portion and the fixing portion are integrally formed with the cartridge frame member.

Cartridge and method for manufacturing cartridge

A developer container unit to be mounted in an image forming apparatus that performs an image forming operation comprises a frame and a sealing unit. The frame is provided with a developer containing chamber containing developer and an opening for discharging the developer from the developer containing chamber. The sealing unit includes a shaft member rotatable about a rotational axis and a sealing portion attached to the shaft member and compressed by the shaft member and the frame to seal the opening. The sealing unit is rotatable to a close position at which the sealing portion seals the opening, a first open position at which the opening is open, and a second open position at which the opening is open. The sealing unit agitates the developer by executing a reciprocating motion between the first and second open positions during the image forming operation.

Developer container unit, developing apparatus, and process cartridge

A rotatable member includes a hollow cylindrical rotation shaft formed with a curved plate-like member. The rotation shaft includes a seam where end surfaces of the plate-like member are contacted to each other. The rotation shaft includes a rotational drive transmitting portion which is provided at an axial end portion thereof and which includes a contact surface contactable to a driver for driving the rotation shaft and configured to receive the driving force from the driver. In a coordinate system with the rotational axis as an origin, the contact surface is provided at a position away by 90&#xb0; or more from the seam in a normal rotational direction which is a direction in which the rotatable member rotates to form an image.

Rotatable member, process cartridge and image forming apparatus

A rotatable member for use with a rotatable driving member provided in a process cartridge or an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a hollow cylindrical rotation shaft engageable with the rotatable driving member. The rotation shaft includes a seam extending from one end to the other end thereof in an axial direction thereof. The rotation shaft includes a transmitting surface engageable with the driving member and configured to receive a driving force for rotating the rotation shaft about the axial direction. The transmitting surface is twisted or inclined with respect to the axial direction.

Rotatable member and electrophotographic image forming apparatus including the rotatable member

The engagement between a fixing member and a resin member is released and the resin member is separated from a frame thereby separating a bearing member from the frame. Parts to be used in a developing device are replaced or the developing device is replenished with a developer. The resin member is connected to the frame to connect the bearing member to the frame. The fixing member is inserted into a through hole to engage with the resin member and fix the resin member to the frame, thereby fixing the bearing member to the frame.

Reproduction method for developing device

One end portion and the other end portion of a rotating member, which face each other and form a joint portion, have a shape with projections and recesses. Projections of one end portion fit in recesses of the other end portion, while projections of the other end portion fit in recesses of the one end portion, so that the one end portion and the other end portion are interlocked. The projections have a first corner portion rounded in an arc, while the recesses have a second corner portion rounded in an arc in which the first corner portion fits. The first corner portion has a larger radius of curvature than that of the second corner portion.

Rotating member, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A cylindrical shaft of a roller has facing surfaces which form a depression-protrusion-shaped portion of a joint of the cylindrical shaft and which face or make contact with each other and moreover which extend in a direction non-parallel to an axial direction of the cylindrical shaft, and the facing surfaces are inclined at a predetermined engagement angle with respect to a circumferential direction. A generating line of a circumferential surface of a coating layer that coats an outer circumference of the cylindrical shaft and a generating line of a circumferential surface of a photosensitive drum cross each other at a crossing angle smaller than the engagement angle.

Roller, rotating member unit, cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus. The cartridge includes a rotatable member, a blade member contacted to the rotatable member, and a frame configured to support the blade member and the rotatable member. The cartridge also includes a seal member configured to fill a gap between the frame and the blade member at a longitudinal end portion of the blade member.

Cartridge having a seal member filling a gap between a frame and a blade member

A cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus, includes: a rotatable member; a blade member contacted to the rotatable member; a frame, formed of a resin material, for supporting the blade member; and a seal member provided on the frame to be contacted to a portion of the blade member, opposite from a portion where the blade member is contacted to the rotatable member, in each of one end side and anther end side of the blade member with respect to an axial direction of the rotatable member, wherein the seal member is formed on the frame by injection molding for sealing a gap between the blade member and the frame.

Cartridge and unit with injection molded seal member

A unit for use with an image forming apparatus includes: a frame; a developer accommodating portion; a sheet member, contact to a rotatable member and provided on the frame along a longitudinal direction of the rotatable member; a first end portion seal member for preventing, at a longitudinal end portion, the developer from leaking out from between the frame and the rotatable member; and a second end portion seal member for preventing the developer from leaking out from among the first end portion seal member, the sheet member and the frame. The second end portion seal member is formed by injecting, on the frame, a resin material having an elastic modulus smaller than an elastic modulus of the frame so as to contact with the first end portion seal member and the sheet member.

Unit and image forming apparatus

A cleaning unit usable with an image forming apparatus includes a cleaning blade, supported by a frame and including a free end contactable to an image bearing drum, for removing a developer from the drum; a first seal provided between the frame and the blade by injection molding into the frame adjacent to a longitudinal end portion of the blade, the first seal being effective to prevent developer leakage; and a second seal provided between the drum and the frame in contact with the free end of the blade adjacent to the longitudinal end portion, wherein the first seal includes a seal portion contacting the blade, and a seat supporting the second seal, the seat being deformable to move the second seal to urge the second seal to the free end of the blade when the drum is mounted to the frame.

Unit, cleaning unit, process cartridge, and image forming apparatus

A process cartridge for an image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive drum; a cleaning member having a blade contacted to end drum; a sheet contacted to end drum; an end seal provided at an end of a frame and contacted to the drum, end blade and end sheet; and a sealing mold, integrally molded at the end portion of end frame by injection molding, end sealing mold including a first seal provided between end cleaning member and end frame and extending in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction, a second seal provided between the end seal and end frame and continuously molded with end first seal, and a third seal provided between end sheet and end frame and continuously molded with end second seal.

Process cartridge and image forming apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Mishima, Japan

Fumito Nonaka