Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp.

Toshio Takiguchi

Kazuaki Sugawara

Takuji Matsumoto

Yosuke Shimomoto

Atsuna Saiki

Shigemasa Nakaya

Naofumi Murayama

Satoshi Fujioka

Tadashi Ito

Atsushi Kaneko

Takashi Akaike

Shigeki Nishimura

Iori Togu

Shinichi Ohba

Lei Yuan

Satoru Ishii

Takashi Anzai

Takayuki Yazawa

Tadashi Kureyama

Koji Tadokoro

A developer container includes: a first containing portion that contains new developer; a second containing portion that contains developer; a transport unit that transports the developer in the first containing portion toward an outside of the first containing portion; and a receiving unit that receives a driving force from a driving unit of a body of an image forming apparatus and transmits the driving force to the transport unit. The receiving unit is disposed such that a portion of the receiving unit is outwardly exposed at an end surface of one of the first containing portion and the second containing portion in an up-down direction, the exposed portion being in contact with the driving unit.

Developer container and image forming apparatus

A developer container includes: a containing unit that contains developer; a transport unit that transports the developer; and a receiving unit that receives a driving force transmitted from a transmitting unit of a body of an image forming apparatus and transmits the driving force to the transport unit. The developer container is removably attachable to the body of the image forming apparatus. The developer container includes a first rotation stopping portion and a second rotation stopping portion that is farther from the receiving unit than the first rotation stopping portion. When the developer container is attached to the body of the image forming apparatus, the first rotation stopping portion comes into contact with a first rotation stopper portion provided on the body of the image forming apparatus, and the second rotation stopping portion comes into contact with a second rotation stopper portion provided on the body of the image forming apparatus. A spatial allowance between the first rotation stopping portion and the first rotation stopper portion is less than a spatial allowance between the second rotation stopping portion and the second rotation stopper portion.

A developing device includes a first housing member, and a second housing member that is configured by combining a housing, in which a developer accommodation space accommodating a developer and a roll accommodation space accommodating a development roll are provided, and the first housing member with each other and that includes an integrated member obtained by integrally forming a frame-shaped seal attachment portion and an outer shell portion with each other, the seal attachment portion being a portion to which a seal member separating the developer accommodation space and the roll accommodation space from each other is attached, the outer shell portion constituting an outer shell that separates an inside and an outside of the housing from each other.

Developing device and image forming apparatus

A transport device includes a transport path that includes an opening through which a developer flows into the transport path, an opening and closing portion that is provided to be movable along the transport path and that opens and closes the opening, and a transport body that is disposed in the transport path, that includes a blade formed in a spiral shape on an outer periphery of a shaft portion, that transports the developer flowing into the transport path through the opening and moves the opening and closing portion to an opening position with the blade by rotating forward, and that idly rotates with respect to the opening and closing portion moved to the opening position in a case of forward rotation.

Transport device and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes: a detachable body that is able to be attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus body in a depth direction and is movable from a first position to a second position; an operation unit that is operated in a direction approaching the image forming apparatus body to position the detachable body from the first position to the second position; and a pressing member that presses the detachable body toward the second position with a pressing surface in contact with the detachable body in a state in which an operation of the operation unit is completed and moves the detachable body from the first position to the second position with a slope surface forming an obtuse angle with respect to the pressing surface in contact with the detachable body in accordance with the operation of the operation unit.

Image forming apparatus

A mounting/demounting structure includes: a mountable/demountable object including a body, a first projection provided at a first end of the body in a movable manner, and a second projection provided at a second end of the body in a shiftable manner; and a receptacle including a housing configured to house the object when mounted while covering it in at least two directions, first and second stoppers provided in the housing and configured to stop the first and second projections, respectively by engagement, the object including an abutment portion provided on the body and configured to abut against a part of the housing to keep a posture reduced in terms of an engagement amount between the second projection and the second stopper when the first projection is disengaged from the first stopper and the object is stopped at a tilt in the housing during demounting of the object from the receptacle.

Mounting/demounting structure, apparatus using mounting/demounting structure, and mountable/demountable object

A protection member for attachment to a replacement component before the replacement component is inserted into a body of an apparatus, to protect the replacement component, the replacement component being to be inserted into the body of the apparatus so as to act as a part of the apparatus, the protection member includes: a contact portion configured to come into contact with the body of the apparatus at a stage where a portion of the replacement component on a front side in an insertion direction is inserted into the body of the apparatus while the protection member is attached to the replacement component, in which the protection member is removed at the stage where the portion is inserted into the body of the apparatus, so as to allow further insertion of the replacement component.

Protection member, replacement component with protection member, and image forming apparatus

Toner cartridge

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body including a mounting section provided with a first connection terminal, and a removable unit provided with a second connection terminal. The second connection terminal is held by a holding member that is mounted on a side surface portion of the removable unit while the holding member is displaceable in a direction that is orthogonal to a movement direction of the removable unit when the removable unit is mounted or removed and while the holding member is pushed towards an outer side of the side surface portion by an elastic member. When the removable unit is mounted, the holding member becomes displaced towards an inner side of the side surface portion, and the holding member becomes pushed towards the outer side of the side surface portion by the elastic member, so that the second connection terminal contacts the first connection terminal.

Image forming apparatus and removable unit

A member mounting structure includes: a removable member mountable to and removable from an apparatus body upon application of a moving force in a first direction; a moving member that moves the removable member in a second direction intersecting the first direction when the removable member is moved in the first direction to be mounted to the apparatus body to dispose the removable member at a mounting position with respect to the apparatus body; a restriction member that restricts movement of the removable member at the mounting position toward a removal side in the first direction; and a suppression member that is mountable to and removable from the apparatus body when moved in the first direction and that suppresses movement of the removable member at the mounting position toward a restriction removing side in the second direction for removal of restriction imposed by the restriction member.

Member mounting structure and image forming apparatus

A detachable unit includes a detachable unit body to be attached to an image forming apparatus body such as to be detachable in a predetermined detachment direction, a grip part provided in the detachable unit body, and a latch portion provided in the detachable unit body, the latch portion being latched in a latched portion provided in the image forming apparatus body to restrict detachment of the detachable unit body from the image forming apparatus body in a state in which the detachable unit body is attached to the image forming apparatus body, and withdrawing from a latch position in the latched portion in conjunction with a pull-out operation of pulling out the grip part from the detachable unit body in the detachment direction.

Detachable unit and image forming apparatus

In an image forming apparatus defined herein, in case the opening/closing member is rotationally moved from the opened position toward the normal position, when the detachable body main unit is at a restricted position between the attached position and the separated position, the restricting portion is contacted with the restricted portion to be moved between the opening/closing member and the detachable body main unit, so as to restrict a rotational movement of the opening/closing member to the normal position, and, when the detachable body main unit is at the attached position, the restricting portion and the restricted portion that is being rotated are separated from each other to enable the opening/closing member to be rotationally moved to the normal position, and, in case the opening/closing member is moved to the normal position, the restricted portion is housed in a space between the detachable body main unit and the opening/closing member.

Detachable body and image forming apparatus

An image forming agent storage unit includes a body portion and a pair of a protrusion portion. The body portion extends in an insertion direction in which the image forming agent storage unit is inserted into an image forming apparatus. The pair of a protrusion portion is disposed on an outer face of the body portion and extends along the insertion direction. An approximate geometrical center of gravity of a cross-sectional shape of the body portion is disposed between the pair of the protrusion portion. One of the protrusion portions is disposed on an upper right angle position between an upper portion of the body portion and a right portion of the body portion and the other of the protrusion portions is disposed on a lower left angle position between a lower portion of the body portion and a left portion of the body portion.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Toshio Takiguchi