Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Kouji Hashimoto

Tachio Kawai

Kenji Matsuda

Yoshiro Tsuchiya

Kazuhiko Kanno

Shinichi Sasaki

Nobuharu Hoshi

Junji Kobayashi

Hidetoshi Matsuoka

Tatsuya Shiratori

Akiyoshi Fujita

Kinya Harada

Akira Suzuki

Tatsuya Suzuki

Tetsuya Kobayashi

Tadayuki Tsuda

Toru Oguma

Susumu Nittani

Kanji Yokomori

Hiroshi Sasame

Tadashi Horikawa

Kojiro Yasui

Yasunari Watanabe

Hironobu Isobe

Shinya Yamamoto

Norio Takami

Kenshiro Abe

A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes first and second end covers, first and second bottom-surface portions to be guided by first and second main assembly guide portions, first, second, and third portions to be positioned by first, second, and third main assembly positioning portions, and a driving force receiving portion partly exposed through the first end cover between the first and third portions to be positioned and engaging with a main assembly driving force transmitting portion to rotate a process-cartridge developing member when the process cartridge is mounted to the apparatus.

Process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photosensitive member; developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member with a developer; a developer container for containing the developer, the developer container having an opening for supplying the developer to the developing means; a sealing member for sealing the opening of the developer container; a winding shaft for winding the sealing member, the sealing member being rotatably supported by the developer container; a driving device for applying a driving force to rotate the winding shaft; and drive control device for permitting and preventing transmission of the driving force to the winding shaft, wherein the driving control device permits the transmission in response to insertion of the process cartridge into the main assembly of the image forming apparatus and prevents transmission in response to a predetermined number of rotations of the winding shaft.

IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS TO WHICH A DEVELOPING CARTRIDGE OR PROCESS CARTRIDGE ARE DETACHABLY MOUNTABLE COMPRISING DRIVING CONTROL MEANS FOR PERMITTING AND PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF A DRIVING FORCE TO A WINDING MEMBER

A developing apparatus includes a developer carrying member for carrying a developer thereon. An electrostatic image is formed on an image bearing member with the developer. A rotatable developer electrifying member contacts the developer carrying member and electrifies the developer carried on the developer carrying member. A holding member supports the developer electrifying member and the developer carrying member. A bearing assembled to the holding member receives a shaft of the developer electrifying member. The developer electrifying member is held by the holding member through the bearing member.

Developing apparatus

A toner seal member to be used for sealing a developer container including a developer accommodating portion for accommodating a developer; and an opening for supplying the developer from the developer accommodating portion, the toner seal member being for sealing the opening, wherein the toner seal member unseals the opening by being automatically wound up, the toner seal member including a sealing portion for covering and sealing the opening; and a regulating portion for regulating an operation of a detecting member for detecting winding-up of the toner seal member to unseal the opening.

DEVELOPMENT CARTRIDGE, PROCESS CARTRIDGE, AND ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND TONER SEAL MEMBER FOR UNSEALING AN OPENING FOR SUPPLYING DEVELOPER BY AUTOMATICALLY WINDING UP THE TONER SEAL MEMBER

A developing apparatus has a developer bearing member for bearing and carrying a nonmagnetic developer, a layer thickness regulating member for regulating a layer thickness of the developer borne by the developer bearing member, developing bias applying device for applying an alternating current voltage to the developer bearing member, and regulating member bias applying device for applying a direct current voltage to the layer thickness regulating member, and wherein &verbar;DC &verbar;>&verbar;DC &verbar; is satisfied when DC is an effective value of the alternating current voltage applied to the developer bearing member and DC is a value of the direct current voltage applied to the layer thickness regulating member, the direct current voltage value DC has a polarity, which is reverse to a charging polarity of the developer with respect to the effective value DC

Developing apparatus having a direct or alternating current applied thereto

A positioning member has a position, which can be adjusted with respect to a developing container by shifting the positioning member with respect to the developing container, while holding a regulating member by the positioning member.

Developing apparatus featuring suppressed deviation of a positional relationship between a developer bearing member and a developer regulator member and method for assembling the apparatus

A toner container usable with an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for containing toner, the toner container includes a first frame of plastic resin material; a second frame of plastic resin material; a bonding portion where the first and second frames are connected with each other by bonding material; a fitting portion, adjacent the connecting portion, where a projection provided in the second frame is fitted into a pit provided in the first frame.

Toner container, development cartridge, and process cartridge

A developing device includes a developing container for accommodating a developer; a developer carrying member, disposed in an opening of the developing container, for carrying a developer; a developer charging member for being contacted to the developer on the developer carrying member and supplied with a voltage of the same polarity as the developer and not less than a discharge start voltage.

Developing charging member supplied with a voltage of a same polarity as that of a developer and not less than a charge starting voltage and a developing charging roller with internal bearing

A developing cartridge detachably mountable to the main assembly of an image forming apparatus includes a toner carrying member for carrying toner to a developing station at which an electrostatic image formed on an image bearing member is developed with the toner. The cartridge also includes a toner accommodating portion for accommodating the toner to be supplied to a developer carrying member. The cartridge further includes an engaging portion, the shape of which is different depending on the type of the toner it contains. The engaging portion is engageable with an engaging portion of one of two or more developing cartridge slots provided in a main assembly of the image forming apparatus. The cartridge also includes a light transmitting portion disposed in the engaging portion to transmit light to be detected by a detector provided in the main assembly of the image forming apparatus to detect the amount of the toner in the toner accommodating portion.

Development cartridge and image forming apparatus

The present invention relates to a developing apparatus which has a developer container, a developer bearing member and a developer sealing member. Also, it is mainly featured that at least a part of the developer sealing member is a conductive portion, and the developer bearing member and the conductive portion have a same potential when a voltage is applied to the developer bearing member.

Developing apparatus with a sealing member having an insulating layer

A developing cartridge is provided for developing a latent image formed on a photosensitive member. The developing cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The developing cartridge includes a developing member for developing a latent image formed on the photosensitive member with toner; a toner accommodating portion for accommodating the toner to be used for development by the developing member; a toner supply opening, provided in the toner accommodating portion, for supplying the toner accommodated in the toner accommodating portion to the developing member; a toner seal for blocking the toner from being supplied from the toner supply opening toward the developing member; a developing frame including a developing member mounting portion for mounting the developing member, the developing frame being provided with a toner passing opening for passing the toner supplied from the toner supply opening; a toner frame supporting the toner accommodating portion; and a toner seal opening provided between the toner passing opening of the developing frame and a bonding portion between the toner frame and the developing frame.

Developing cartridge for developing an electrostatic image formed on an

A developing apparatus having a developer containing portion including an opening portion for supplying a developer to a developer bearing member, a sheet member for unsealably sealing the opening portion, and a partition wall for partitioning a space of a developer containing portion into a first space and a second space more remote from the developer bearing member than the first space. The partition wall has an angle of 30 degrees or less with respect to a surface on which the sheet member is supported, and has an angle of 40 degrees or more with respect to a horizontal plane when the developing apparatus is attached to a main body of an image forming apparatus. A first carrying and a second carrying member are disposed in the first space and the second space respectively to carry the developer to the opening portion. Before the sheet member is unsealed, the second carrying member is stopped so that a tip end portion of the second carrying member in a rotation radius direction thereof comes close to a tip end portion of the partition wall, and the first carrying member is stopped so that a rotation phase deviates from a stop position of the second carrying member on an upstream side of the rotating direction by an angle of 75 degrees and 105 degrees.

The process cartridge has a rotatable member having an electrophotographic photosensitive layer, the rotatable member having an abut surface against which a spacer for keeping a distance between the electrophotographic photosensitive layer and a spacer opposed thereto at a predetermined value, a process device acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive layer, and a raised fabric-like cleaning member abutted against the abut surface. The raised fabric-like cleaning member includes fibers of which distal ends are bent and inclined in a direction counter to a rotational direction of the drum-like rotatable member. The raised fabric-like cleaning member stores toner removed from the drum-like rotatable member therein.

Process cartridge having raised fabric-like cleaning member

A developing cartridge for developing a latent image formed on a photosensitive member, which is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, includes a developing member for developing a latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member with toner; a toner accommodating portion for accommodating the toner to be used by the developing member; first and second light transmitting portions provided in the toner accommodating portion; a first light guide for directing, to the first light transmitting portion, light emitted by a light emission member provided in the main assembly; and a second light guide for directing the light having passed through the second light transmitting portion to a light receiving element provided in the main assembly.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka-ken, Japan

Kouji Hashimoto