Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Hiroomi Matsuzaki

Akira Suzuki

Kojiro Yasui

Kazuo Chadani

Tatsuo Fujisaki

Koji Yamaguchi

Tetsuo Uesugi

Shigeo Miyabe

Masaaki Matsushita

Fumito Nonaka

Tadayuki Tsuda

Makoto Hayashida

Hiroki Ogino

Shinjiro Toba

Masaaki Sato

Takahito Ueno

Junichi Matsumura

Kazuki Matsumoto

Masaki Furutani

Tomonori Matsunaga

Hiraku Sasaki

Shogo Satomura

Masatomi Yoshida

Yoshiyuki Batori

Toshiaki Takeuchi

Daisuke Makiguchi

Kazunori Kobayashi

Issei Imamura

Kazunori Takashima

Hiroshi Yukimachi

Satoru Yamada

Toshiaki Nagashima

Toshiyuki Karakama

Noriyuki Komatsu

Isao Ikemoto

Daisuke Abe

Koji Wada

Yosuke Kashiide

Shinichi Sasaki

Ryuta Murakami

Nobuharu Hoshi

Shunsuke Uratani

Takatoshi Hamada

Kohei Matsuda

Katsunori Yokoyama

Takayuki Kanazawa

Seiichi Shinohara

Yasushi Katsuta

Kazunori Suzuki

Takashi Kase

Toshiteru Yamasaki

Naoki Asano

Yasunori Toriyama

Kazunori Hashimoto

Tetsuya Nishiguchi

Yusuke Usui

Nobuhiro Takeuchi

Yukinori Nagata

Yoshiyuki Beniya

Kohki Kamata

Motomi Suzuki

Junko Hirata

Masaakii Matsushita

An image forming apparatus includes a pump portion that is variable in volume, a feeding path portion including a connection opening communicating with the pump portion at one end and including a discharge opening at the other end, and a toner accommodating portion connected to a communicating opening that is an intermediate portion between the one end and the other end of the feeding path portion. The apparatus also includes a main assembly path porting including a pipe configured to feed toner upward from the discharge opening toward the receiving opening by air flow generated by the pump portion.

Image forming apparatus with pump portion for generating air to move toner to toner supplying device to developing device

A developer replenishing device includes a containing portion containing developer and a conveying path forming portion forming a conveying path of developer, with the conveying path including a conveying inlet and a conveying outlet. A moving member includes a developer holding portion movable to a first position at which the holding portion is connected to the containing portion and a second position at which the holding portion is connected to the conveying inlet. In addition, an exhaust air portion generates exhaust air, and a filter passes air flow and does not pass developer. When the moving member is at the second position, the filter is disposed such that developer is held inside the holding portion and exhaust air generated by the exhaust air portion is allowed to enter the holding portion, and the holding portion is located below the conveying inlet in a gravity direction.

Developer replenishing device and image forming apparatus

A developer cartridge includes accommodating container, a pump that is variable in volume, a feeding path member of which one end is connected to the pump and the other end is provided with a discharge outlet, the feeding path member being configured to form a path for feeding developer between the pump and the discharge outlet, and a transporting member configured to communicate the developer and the accommodating container and to transport the developer from the accommodating container to the feeding path member. The transporting member includes a moving mechanism configured to move a holding member between a first position where the holding member is capable of being filled with the developer from the accommodating container by accommodating the container and the holding member and a second position where the holding member and the feeding path member communicate with each other.

Developer replenishment device and image forming apparatus

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 toner cartridge includes a pump portion that is variable in volume, a feeding path portion including a connection opening connected to the pump portion at a first end and including a discharge opening at a second end, and a toner accommodating portion connected to an intermediate portion between the first end of the feeding path portion and the second end of the feeding path portion. A volume change amount of the pump portion is greater than a total volume from the connection opening to the discharge opening.

Toner cartridge having a variable volume pump and a feeding path from the pump portion to a discharge opening

A seal member includes a first seal portion abutting an end portion of a rotating body to seal a gap between a storage container and the end portion, and a second seal portion abutting an end portion of a blade to seal a gap between the storage container and the end portion. The second seal portion has a tip contacting portion to contact a tip portion of the blade and a non-tip contacting portion to contact a portion of the blade except for the tip portion. The non-tip contacting portion is recessed to form a step between the non-tip contacting portion and the tip contacting portion. The tip contacting portion includes a base portion to contact with the storage container, an abutting portion configured to abut the blade, and a connecting portion which connects the base portion and the abutting portion to each other.

Seal member, unit, and image forming apparatus

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 developer accommodating unit for accommodating a developer for image formation includes a flexible container provided with an openingfor permitting discharge of the developer, a frame for accommodating the flexible container and for accommodating the developer to be discharged from the flexible container, and an urging memberfor urging a developer accommodating bag toward the frame for accommodating the developer accommodating bag. By this, it is possible to satisfactorily effect discharge of the developer from the flexible developer accommodating bag

Developer accommodating unit, process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

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 cartridge includes a photosensitive member, a roller including a core metal shaft and a coating layer, roller supporting portions, and a regulating portion for regulating a position of the roller with respect to a longitudinal direction of the roller. The roller supporting portions are provided so as to support one end portion and an other end potion of the core metal shaft, respectively, with respect to a direction of a rotational axis of the roller. The roller is further provided with cylindrical holes disposed at respective ends of the core metal shaft with respect to the direction of the rotational axis and extending in the direction of the rotational axis with the rotational axis as a center. The roller is supported by the roller supporting portions at inner peripheral surfaces of the holes.

Cartridge and image forming apparatus having roller supported by roller supporting portions

A seal memberwhich seals a gap among a rotating bodyprovided in an opening of a frame body, a blade, and the frame bodyin an end region in an axial direction of the rotating body, the seal memberincluding: a first seal portionwhich comes into contact with the rotating body; a second seal portionwhich comes into contact with the blade; and a third seal portionwhich is constituted by a surface formed in a stair shape and sequentially arranged between the first seal portionand the second seal portionand which is capable of reducing a gap formed between the rotating bodyand the bladedue to rotation of the rotating body

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

Growing community of inventors

Mishima, Japan

Hiroomi Matsuzaki