US 11,543,759 B2Granted

Image forming apparatus

AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorsRyuji Tanaami, Keita Nakajima, Koji Miwa, Yuji Mitsui

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Abstract

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus including: a first moving member pressed and moved by an openable/closable member when the openable/closable member is opened, and switching a cartridge from a state where the cartridge is positioned in an image forming position to a state where the positioning is released; and a second moving member pressed and moved by the openable/closable member when the openable/closable member is opened, and moving the exposure member from an exposure position to a retracted position, wherein when the positioning of the cartridge is released, a reaction force applied from the first moving member to the openable/closable member reaches a first peak, when the exposure member is moved to the retracted position, a reaction force applied from the second moving member to the openable/closable member reaches a second peak, and timing of the first peak is different from timing of the second peak.

Claims15

Dependent claims

An image forming apparatus comprising:

a plurality of rotatable photosensitive drums;
a removably-mountable unit having a housing portion configured to contain toner collected from the photosensitive drum, the removably-mountable unit being removably mountable on the image forming apparatus;
a mounting portion on which the removably-mountable unit is mounted;
a cover openable to mount and remove the removably-mountable unit to and from the image forming apparatus, the cover overlapping the removably-mountable unit as looking at the removably-mountable unit along a rotational axis direction of the photosensitive drum in a state in which the removably-mountable unit is mounted on the mounting portion;
and
a plurality of LED units, each of the LED units corresponding to one of the plurality of photosensitive drums, each of the LED units including:
a frame that is provided with an LED array configured to expose the photosensitive drum, the frame being movable in a direction crossing the rotational axis direction, the LED array exposing the photosensitive drum from below when the frame is at a predetermined position;
a spring configured to be expandable and contractible in the direction crossing the rotational axis direction, the spring being configured to act on the frame so as to position the frame at the predetermined position by contraction of the spring;
and
a conversion mechanism configured to convert a force provided to the removably-mountable unit for inserting the removably-mountable unit to the mounting portion into a force for contracting the spring in association with a movement of the removably-mountable unit in a mounting operation of the removably-mountable unit to the mounting portion.

7 more elements

An image forming apparatus configured to form a latent image on a photosensitive drum that is configured to be rotatable about a rotational axis and develop the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum with toner, the image forming apparatus comprising:

a container including a containing portion configured to contain a waste toner that is collected from a surface the photosensitive drum;
a light emitting unit including:
a light emitting array configured to emit a light to form the latent image on the photosensitive drum, and
a frame that is provided with the light emitting array, the frame being movable in a direction crossing a direction of the rotational axis;
a main body being provided with the light emitting unit and a mounted portion on which the container is mounted;
and
a cam member provided on the main body, the cam member including an abutment portion to which a part of the container abuts in a mounting operation mounting the container to the mounted portion, the cam member being configured to move with the container in the direction of the rotational axis while the cam member is pushed by the part of the container with the mounting operation, and the cam member being configured to act on the frame as a cam configured to move the frame in the direction crossing the direction of the rotational axis.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/029,165Filed 23 Sep 2020 · division
Priority: JP 2010-1268122 Jun 2010
Published: US 2021/0003937 A17 Jan 2021
Granted: 3 Jan 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification17 codes

G03G 15/04036
For exposing, i.e. imagewise exposure by optically projecting the original image on a photoconductive recording material: details of illuminating…
G03G 21/1633
Means to access the interior of the apparatus: using doors or covers
G03G 21/1666
Means for handling parts of the apparatus in the apparatus: for the exposure unit
G03G 21/1853
For guiding and mounting the process cartridge, positioning, alignment, locks: the process cartridge being mounted perpendicular to the axis of…

Family

Application13/115,237Parent of this continuation · filed 25 May 2011
Application14/276,293Parent of this division · filed 13 May 2014
US 8,768,202 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 1 Jul 2014
Application15/198,391Parent of this division · filed 30 Jun 2016
US 9,720,345 B2Parent of this division · filed 1 Aug 2017
Application15/810,567Parent of this division · filed 13 Nov 2017
US 9,846,384 B2Parent of this division · filed 19 Dec 2017
Application16/294,005Parent of this division · filed 6 Mar 2019
US 10,274,859 B2Parent of this division · filed 30 Apr 2019
US 2021/0003937 A1Pre-grant publication · published 7 Jan 2021
US 10,824,088 B2Parent of this division
Application14/276,293Parent of this continuation
US 2011/0299882 A1Published application
US 2015/0331386 A1Published application
US 2016/0238987 A9Published application
US 2016/0306289 A1Published application
US 2018/0081296 A1Published application
US 2019/0204762 A1Published application
US 9,423,766 B2Related patent
US 11,543,759 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.