Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Fujitsu Corporation

Mitsugu Inomata

Hisayoshi Kojima

Fumio Nakao

Toshiki Nagase

Akira Ito

Haruhisa Inagaki

Toshiaki Miyashiro

Takao Sameshima

Takashi Maekawa

Masanori Yamagata

Hideki Tada

Tetsu Endo

Tatsuya Kobayashi

Yasuo Ito

Masaki Ohtake

Kaneatsu Uchiyama

Kaneastu Uchiyama

Kazuo Nobue

Masaki Shimazaki

Shigeki Idouji

An image forming unit is detachably mountable to a main body of an image forming apparatus and includes a first unit including an image bearing member, and a second unit including an intermediate transfer member to which is transferred a toner image on the image bearing member. The toner image on the intermediate transfer member is transferred to a recording material, and at least either of the first and second units is detachable from and attachable to the image forming unit.

Image forming unit and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus including a photosensitive member and a support portion for detachably supporting a developing unit for developing a latent image formed on the photosensitive member. The support portion supports the developing unit in a pivotable manner. A driving force transmitting portion disposed on an axis substantially the same as a pivot axis of the developing unit supported by the support portion is adapted to transmit a driving force to the developing unit supported by the support portion.

Image forming apparatus featuring a driving force transmitting portion substantially coaxial with a developing unit

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which a process cartridge is detachably mounted and which is adapted to form an image on a recording medium includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a mounting device capable of detachably mounting a process cartridge including a process device acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a shaft coupling member secured to a drum support shaft for supporting the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. A shaft coupling member of an apparatus body is adapted to be engaged by and disengaged from the shaft coupling member of the process cartridge. The shaft coupling member of the apparatus body includes either of one shaft coupling member including a cylindrical projection coaxial with a rotation center, and transmitting force transmitting or receiving projections disposed around the cylindrical projection and protruding in the same direction as the cylindrical projection and having inclined surfaces with a tip end lead directing toward a rotational direction, or another shaft coupling member including a cylindrical hole to be fitted onto the cylindrical projection to effect centering, and holes to be fitted onto the transmitting force transmitting or receiving projections and disposed around the cylindrical hole and having inclined surfaces to be contacted with the inclined surfaces of the transmitting force transmitting or receiving projections.

Driving force receiving member, shaft coupling, toner image bearing member, process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, to which a process cartridge is detachably mountable, the apparatus includes mounting member for mounting a process cartridge, the process cartridge including: a. an electrophotographic photosensitive member; a cleaning member for removing toner remaining on the electrophotographic photosensitive member; a toner accommodating portion for accommodating toner removed from the electrophotographic photosensitive member by the cleaning member; a first light transmission opening, provided in the toner accommodating portion, for directing light from outside into the toner accommodating portion; and a second light transmission opening, provided in the toner accommodating portion, for directing the light directed into the toner accommodating portion through the first light transmission opening, to an outside of the toner accommodating portion; wherein the mounting member is movable between an image forming position for forming an image and a mounting-and-demounting position for mounting or demounting the process cartridge; b. a light emission member for emitting the light; c. a light receiving element for receiving the light; d. a light guiding member, provided on the mounting member, for guiding the light having passed through the second light transmission opening to the light receiving element; e. a feeding member for feeding the recording material.

Electrophotographic image forming apparatus using guided light to detect

An image forming apparatus comprises an image bearing member for bearing an image, an image forming means for forming the image on the image bearing member, a movable member which can be shifted along a transfer station of the image bearing member and onto which a first image and a second image on the image bearing member are successively transferred in a superimposed fashion, and a shifting speed switching means for switching a shifting speed of the movable member between a first shifting speed during a transferring operation and a second shifting speed slower than the first shifting speed, after the first image was transferred to the movable member and before the second image is transferred onto the movable member.

Image forming apparatus with movable member shiftable at different speeds

A developing apparatus has a rotatable developing unit having a plurality of developing devices each provided with a containing portion for containing a developer and a carrying member carrying the developer, a light emitting element for applying light toward the containing portion, and a light receiving element provided discretely from the developing unit and common to the plurality of developing devices and for receiving the light transmitted through the containing portion.

Developing apparatus provided with a portable developing unit for

An image forming apparatus having a cartridge includes an image forming device acting on an image bearing member and a driving force transmitting device which is adapted to transmit a driving force from an apparatus side to a cartyridge side and which is separable from the image forming device. The apparatus also includes a drive source. The image forming device and the driving force transmitting device are integrally mountable to the apparatus.

Driving cartridge for an image forming apparatus

A process cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member; a plurality of developing devices for supplying a developer to the image bearing member, the developing devices each having a first electric contact; a second electric contact for establishing electric connection with the apparatus when the cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus; and a selector for selecting one of the first electric contacts, the selector being effective to electrically connecting the selected first electric contact and the second contact.

Image forming apparatus and process cartridge detachably mountable to

A developing cartridge includes a developing device having a containing portion containing developer and a bearing member for bearing the developing device, a support member adapted to rotatably support the developing device and having an opening portion, and a lock for locking a rotation of the developing device with respect to the support member at a position there the bearing member is not aligned with the opening portion.

Developing cartridge having support member for rotatably supporting

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, comprising an image bearing member, plural development means for effecting image development by acting on said image bearing member, and drive means for enabling drive force transmission to selected one among said plural development means by rotation in a direction, and driving said selected development means by rotation in a direction opposite to the above-mentioned direction.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes a first rotatable member for bearing an image, the first rotatable member having a first driving gear; a second rotatable member rotatable in synchronism with the first rotatable member, the second rotatable member having a second driving gear; a transfer device for transferring the image from the first rotatable member onto the second transfer member; and driving source for driving the first driving gear and the second driving gear; wherein the second driving gear is driven not through the first driving gear.

Image forming apparatus having a transfer member rotatable in

The present invention provides the image forming system in which, when an image bearing member or a process cartridge including an image bearing member therein is mounted within an image forming system having a shiftable image forming device, the image bearing member can receive a driving force from the image forming device. Consequently, it is possible to reduce the number of positioning locations between the image forming system and the image bearing member.

Image forming system

An image forming apparatus includes first and second frames separable from each other, wherein the first and second frames constitutes a main assembly of the image forming apparatus; a process cartridge detachably mountable to the main assembly, wherein the process cartridge contains an image bearing member and at least one image forming device actable on the image bearing member; a developing unit detachably mountable to the main assembly separately from the cartridge, the developing unit forming a developed image on the image bearing member; wherein the main assembly is separable in a first mode in which the cartridge and the developing unit are in either of the first frame or the second frame and in a second mode in which the cartridge and the developing unit are in different ones of the first and second frames.

Image forming apparatus featuring a multiple mode service access main

A process cartridge suitable for use in a multi-color image forming apparatus has an image carrier such as an electrophotosensitive drum, a plurality of developing units which act on the image carrier to form developed images of different colors, and a developing unit change-over device for performing change-over between the developing units so as to put one of the developing units into an operative state. The developing unit change-over device is controlled in accordance with a signal from a sensor mounted in the body of the image forming apparatus that senses the state of the developing unit change-over device. The image forming apparatus which operates with the process cartridge has a mounting structure for mounting the process cartridge, a driving device for driving the developing unit change-over device in the process cartridge mounted on the mounting structure, a sensor for sensing the state of the developing unit change-over device in the process cartridge mounted on the mounting structure, and a control device for controlling the operation of the developing unit change-over device in accordance with a signal output from the sensor.

Growing community of inventors

Kawasaki, Japan

Mitsugu Inomata