Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-Kaisha

Brother Industries, Ltd.

Go Iwasa

Yuwen Wang

Shuhei Hatano

Nao Itabashi

Naoya Kamimura

Junichi Hashimoto

Keita Shimizu

Masayoshi Mita

Masaaki Furukawa

Kazutoshi Nakamura

Kazuma Hinoue

Kenta Tosuji

Ryosuke Hayashi

Misato Osuka

Tsubasa Kiriyama

A recycling method of recycling a developing cartridge attachable to and detachable from a drum cartridge including a photosensitive drum is provided. The developing cartridge includes: a developing roller; a housing having a filling port; a lever; and a lever cover covering parts of the lever and the filling port. The recycling method includes: a jig mounting step of mounting a jig on both the housing and the lever; a cover removing step of removing the lever cover from the housing; a filling step of filling the housing with developer through the filling port after the cover removing step; a cover mounting step of mounting the lever cover on the housing after the filling step; and a jig removing step of removing the jig from the housing and the lever after the cover mounting step. The jig mounting step is performed before the cover mounting step at the latest.

Recycling method of recycling developing cartridge that includes cover mounting step, and jig mounting step performed before cover mounting step

Photosensitive drum unit

An image forming apparatus includes a main housing, a drawer, and a cartridge. The drawer is movable between an inside position inside the main housing and an outside position outside the main housing. The cartridge is installable into and removable from the drawer. The cartridge includes a photosensitive drum configured to rotate about a drum axis. The drawer comprises a lock member movable between a lock position in which the drawer is locked to the main housing, and an unlock position in which the drawer is unlocked from the main housing. The cartridge installed in the drawer is rotatable about the drum axis between a first position and a second position. The lock member is positioned in the lock position when the cartridge is positioned in the first position, and positioned in the unlock position when the cartridge is positioned in the second position.

Image forming apparatus

A developing cartridge includes: a developing roller; a casing having an outer surface; a first shaft rotatable about a rotational axis; a first arm; and a cam. The first arm and the cam extend radially outward from an outer periphery of the first shaft and pivotally movable along with rotation of the first shaft. The cam has: one end connected to the first shaft; another end positioned farther from the rotational axis than the one end is farther from the rotational axis; and a pressure contact surface inclined so as to approach the outer surface of the casing as extending from the one end toward the another end. When a pressing force is applied to the pressure contact surface, the first arm pivotally moves from a first position to a second position along with: pivotal movement of the cam; and the rotation of the first shaft.

Developing cartridge including first arm pivotally movable along with pivotal movement of cam and along with rotation of first shaft

A developing cartridge includes: a developing roller rotatable about an axis extending in a first direction; a casing; and a first cam provided at an outer surface of one end portion of the casing in a second direction. The first cam is movable in a third direction between a first position and a second position closer to the developing roller than the first position is in the third direction. The first cam has: a first inclined surface for receiving a pressing force in the first direction; and a second inclined surface. A distance between the second inclined surface and the casing in the second direction varies as the second inclined surface extends away from the developing roller in the third direction. The first cam is movable between the first position and the second position in response to application of the pressing force to the first inclined surface.

Developing cartridge including movable cam having first and second inclined surfaces

A developer cartridge includes a housing, a developing roller, an agitator, a memory, and a cover. The housing is configured to store toner therein and has one end portion and the other end portion in a first direction. The developing roller is rotatable about a first axis extending in the first direction. The agitator is rotatable about a second axis extending in the first direction. The agitator is positioned spaced apart from the developing roller. The memory includes an electrical contact surface. The electrical contact surface is positioned at an outer surface of the housing and at the one end portion of the housing in the first direction, and is disposed between the developing roller and the agitator in a second direction from the first axis toward the second axis. The cover has an opening open in the second direction and covers the electrical contact surface.

Developer cartridge with a cover covering a memory on an outer surface of a toner housing

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Go Iwasa