| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20100080615 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; a developing cartridge including a developing roller for developing a latent image formed on the drum, a developer accommodating portion for accommodating a developer to be used by the developing roller to develop the electrostatic latent image, and a developing roller shutter movable between a protecting position for covering a part of a peripheral surface of the developing roller and a retracted position, retracted from the protecting position, for exposure the part of the peripheral surface of the developing roller, wherein the developing cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of the apparatus; a cartridge supporting member movable, while detachably mounting the developing cartridge, between an inside position which is inside of the main assembly of the apparatus to Mount the developing cartridge to the main assembly of the apparatus and an outside position which is outside of the main assembly of the apparatus to remove the developing cartridge from the main assembly of the apparatus; a force receiving portion, provided on the developing cartridge, for receiving a force for moving the developing roller shutter from the protecting position to the retracted position; and a force applying portion provided in the main assembly of the apparatus, wherein when the cartridge supporting member is moved from the outside position to the inside position, the force receiving portion contacts to the force applying portion to move the cartridge supporting member from the outside position to the inside position, in interrelation with which the force receiving portion contacted to the force applying portion receives the force from the force applying portion, thus moving the developing roller shutter from the protecting position to the retracted position. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100135691 | COLOR ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A color electrophotographic image forming apparatus having an apparatus main body to which a plurality of cartridges are detachably mounted adjacently in one direction for forming a color image on a recording medium, wherein each of the plurality of cartridges has a gripping portion disposed on a rear end of the corresponding cartridge in a mounting direction in which the cartridge is mounted to the apparatus main body, the gripping portion being protruding from the rear end to an upstream side, wherein when the corresponding cartridge is mounted to and detached from the apparatus main body, a user grips the gripping portion, and wherein in a state in which the plurality of cartridges are mounted to the apparatus main body, at least one gripping portion is disposed out of line with a gripping portion of an adjacent cartridge in a direction orthogonal to the mounting direction. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100158559 | COLOR ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A color electrophotographic image forming apparatus in which a plurality of cartridges are detachably mounted to an apparatus main body to form an image on a recording medium, including: a cartridge supporting member, which moves between an inside position that is positioned inside the apparatus main body and a pullout position pulled out from the inside position to an outside of the apparatus main body, while detachably supporting the plurality of cartridges; in which the plurality of cartridges are arranged side-by-side and supported on the cartridge supporting member so that a longitudinal direction of each of the plurality of cartridges is orthogonal to a pullout direction in which the cartridge supporting member moves from the inside position to the pullout position, and a cartridge, which is heaviest among the plurality of cartridges, is supported most upstream in the pullout direction. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100202797 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a transfer member, includes a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus which is provided with a transfer member for transferring a developer image onto the transfer member; a supporting member movable between an inside position which is for supporting an electrophotographic photosensitive member on which the developer image is to be formed and which is inside the main assembly, and an outside position which is outside the main assembly; and a contacting and spacing member movable between a first position for spacing the electrophotographic photosensitive member from the transfer member in the state that the supporting member is in the inside position, and a second position for contacting the electrophotographic photosensitive member to the transfer member, the contacting and spacing member being provided in the supporting member. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100239308 | COLOR ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A color electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit including a transfer member for transferring a developed image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive drum onto the recording material, and mounting portions for demountably mounting cartridges arranged substantially in a vertical direction, the unit being movable, in a state that the cartridge is demountably mounted to the mounting portions, between a transfer position for transferring the developed image from the transfer member onto the recording material in a main assembly of the apparatus, and a mounting and demounting position, different from the transfer position, for mounting and demounting the cartridges relative to the mounting portion; a first path for mounting and demounting the cartridge relative to such a mounting portion of the mounting portions as is provided at a topmost position; and a second path, different from the first path, for mounting and demounting the cartridge relative to the mounting portion. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100239311 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit including a transfer member for transferring a developed image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, and a mounting portion for demountably mounting a cartridge, the image formation unit being movable, in a state that the cartridge is demountably mounted to the mounting portion, between a transfer position for transferring the developed image from the transfer member onto the recording material in a main assembly of the apparatus, and a mounting and demounting position, different from the transfer position, for mounting and demounting the cartridge relative to the mounting portion; and a regulating member for limiting movement, outward of the unit, of the cartridge mounted to the mounting portion, when the unit moves between the transfer position and the mounting and demounting position, the regulating member being movable between a regulating position for limiting the movement, outward of the unit, of the cartridge, and a permitting position for permitting mounting and demounting of the cartridge relative to the mounting portion, and the regulating member being in a regulating position when the unit moves between the transfer position and the mounting and demounting position. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100239312 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; a cartridge including a developing roller for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, the cartridge containing a developer for effecting development and including a force receiving portion, wherein the cartridge is mounted to a main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; and an urging member for urging the cartridge; wherein by mounting the cartridge, the force receiving portion receives a force from the urging member to urge the developing roller to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100247138 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, in which a drawer supporting a cartridge is mounted in an apparatus main body, and an impact when a drawer is mounted into the apparatus main body may be suppressed to prevent a developer from scattering within a developer container. The drawer supporting the cartridge is movable between an inside position in the apparatus main body and a pullout position at which the cartridge is mounted and removed. On a forward side of the inside position, a force giving portion for giving a force to the drawer in a direction opposite to a mounting direction is provided. The force giving portion gives the force gradually to the drawer along with movement of the drawer in the mounting direction. With this structure, it is possible to suppress the scattering of the developer in the cartridge caused by the impact on mounting. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100247140 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet includes a transfer member for transferring a developed image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive drum onto the sheet; a cartridge mounting portion for demountably mounting a cartridge accommodating the developer; an image forming unit movable, relative to a main assembly of the apparatus in a state that the cartridge is mounted to the mounting portion, between an image forming position for effecting image formation and a mounting and demounting position, away from the image formation position, for mounting and demounting the cartridge to the mounting portion; a cleaning member for removing a developer remaining on a surface of the drum; a residual developer container, demountably mounted to the image forming unit, for accommodating the developer removed by the cleaning member; wherein the residual developer container and the cartridge are detachably mountable individually relative to the image forming unit when the image forming unit is placed in the mounting and demounting position. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100247142 | COLOR ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A color electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming a color image on a recording material, the apparatus includes an image forming unit rotatable relative to a main assembly of the color electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the image forming unit including a plurality of mounting portions for demountably mounting cartridges each provided with a developing member for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member drum with a developer, and a transfer member for transferring the developed image on the recording material, wherein the image forming unit is rotatable between a transfer position for transferring the developed image from the transfer member onto the recording material and a mounting and demounting position, different from the transfer position, for mounting and dismounting the cartridge relative to the mounting portion in a state in which cartridges containing different color developers are mounted to the mounting portion; and a grip portion usable for rotating the image forming unit between the transfer position and the mounting and demounting position. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20110033201 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND CARTRIDGE - An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material includes a cartridge accommodating a developer for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on a photosensitive member, a supporter detachably mounting the cartridge, and a preventor. The supporter moves between an inside position where the cartridge forms an image inside a main assembly of the apparatus and an outside position where the cartridge is mounted and demounted outside the main assembly. The preventor moves between a first position in which it prevents, when the cartridge is not mounted, movement of the supporter from the outside position to the inside position by contacting a portion thereof, and a second position, retracted from the first position, in which the it permits, when the cartridge is mounted, the movement of the supporter from the outside position to the inside position. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110142490 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, the apparatus includes a plurality of electrophotographic photosensitive drums; a cartridge which contains a developer and which is detachably mountable to a main assembly of the apparatus of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus in a direction perpendicular to an axis of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum; a cartridge mounting portion for mounting the cartridge; a plurality of cleaning members for removing the developers remaining on surfaces of the electrophotographic photosensitive drums; a removed-developer accommodating container for accommodating the developers removed by the cleaning members, the removed-developer accommodating container being detachably mountable to the main assembly of the apparatus in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, wherein the cartridges are disposed along a second direction, and the removed-developer accommodating container are adjacent to the cartridges and extends along the second direction so as to be overlapped at least partly with the cartridges as seen in the axial direction. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110158681 | UNIT AND ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A unit detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus including an openable member capable of opening and closing a unit mounting and demounting opening includes: a grip portion, provided rotatably about a rotational shaft on a side wall of a frame of the unit, being rotatably moved to a projected position in which the grip portion is projected from the side wall and to a retracted position in which the grip portion is retracted in a longitudinal direction so as to be closer to the side wall than the projected position; and a force receiving portion at which the grip portion located at the projected position receives a force from the openable member when the openable member is closed in a state in which the unit is mounted in the main assembly, the force receiving portion being configured to receive the force for rotating the grip portion from the projected position to the retracted position. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110164897 | ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A downsized electrophotographic image forming apparatus with which a drawer member mounting a photosensitive drum and a developing unit is mounted into a main assembly of the apparatus, and the developing roller and the photosensitive drum can be contacted and spaced relative to each other is provided. It includes a process cartridge, a main assembly of the apparatus, and a drawer member | 07-07-2011 |
