Process cartridge, assembling method for process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising:

• an electrophotographic photosensitive drum having a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon;
• a charging device for charging said photosensitive drum;
• a developing member for developing a latent image formed on said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning member for removing residual toner from said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning frame for supporting the photosensitive drum, charging device and the cleaning member;
• a developing frame for supporting the developing member and a toner container for containing toner to be used by the developing member, wherein said cleaning frame and said developing frame are rotatable relative to each other;
• a drum shaft for rotatably supporting said photosensitive drum on said cleaning frame, said drum shaft extending through said photosensitive drum and having a length sufficient to be supported by said cleaning frame at one end thereof and at the other end thereof, wherein projections and recesses are provided on a portion of said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end to increase friction when the one end is engaged with a hole provided in a frame of said cartridge;
• a first projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a first frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent one longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said first projection having a hole with which the portion of said drum shaft having the projections and recesses is engaged;
• a second projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a second frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent the other longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said second projection having a hole with which the other end of said drum shaft is engaged;
• a preventing member for preventing said drum shaft from disengaging from said cleaning frame, wherein the one end of said drum shaft is press-fitted in said cartridge frame, and the other end thereof is prevented from disengaging from said cartridge frame by said preventing member;
• wherein said photosensitive drum is provided with a spur gear at one longitudinal end thereof and a helical gear at the other longitudinal end, wherein said preventing member is located nearer to said other longitudinal end than said one longitudinal end, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said helical gear receives driving force from the main assembly to rotate said photosensitive drum, and transmits the driving force to the developing member in the form of a developing roller, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said spur gear transmits driving force to a transfer roller provided in said main assembly.

A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising:

• an elertrophotographic photosensitive drum having a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon;
• a charging roller for charging said photosensitive drum;
• a developing roller for developing a latent image formed on said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning blade for removing residual toner from said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning frame for supporting the photosensitive drum, charging roller and the clearing blade, wherein said cleaning frame is formed of plastic resin material;
• a developing frame for supporting the developing roller and a toner container for containing toner to be used by the developing roller, wherein said cleaning frame and said developing frame are rotatable relative to each other, wherein said developing frame is formed of plastic resin material;
• a drum shaft for rotatably supporting said photosensitive drum on said cleaning frame, said drum shaft extending through said photosensitive drum and having a length sufficient to be supported by said cleaning frame at one end thereof and at the other end thereof, wherein said drum shaft is formed of metal, and wherein projections and recesses are provided on a portion of said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end to increase friction when the one end is engaged with a hole provided in the cleaning frame;
• a first projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a first frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent one longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said first projection having a hole with which the portion of said drum shaft having the projections and recesses is engaged, wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said first projection is guided by a guide on the main assembly;
• a second projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a second frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent the other longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said second projection having a hole with which the other end of said drum shaft is engaged, wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said second projection is guided by a guide on the main assembly;
• a preventing member for preventing said drum shaft from disengaging from said cleaning frame, wherein said preventing member is in the form of a ring having an inside surface with an inward projection which is engaged with a groove formed in an outer periphery of said drum shaft, wherein said one end of said drum shaft is press-fitted in said cleaning frame, and the other end thereof is prevented from disengaging from said cleaning frame by said preventing member, wherein said preventing member is formed of plastic resin material;
• wherein said photosensitive drum is provided with a spur gear at one longitudinal end thereof and a helical gear at the other longitudinal end, wherein said preventing member is located nearer to said other longitudinal end than said one longitudinal end, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said helical gear receives driving force from the main assembly to rotate said photosensitive drum, and transmits the driving force to the developing roller, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said spur gear transmits driving force to a transfer roller provided in said main assembly;
• and
• said cartridge further comprises:
• a grounding member in the cylinder of said photosensitive drum, said grounding member being contacted to an inner surface of said cylinder and an outer surface of said drum shaft, wherein said grounding member electrically grounds said photosensitive drum to the main assembly through said shaft, and wherein said grounding member is mounted to said spur gear.

An assembling method for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus, said process cartridge comprising an electrophotographic photosensitive drum and process means actable on said photosensitive drum, wherein said photosensitive drum has a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon, said method comprising:

• (a) a disposing step of disposing the photosensitive drum between a first frame portion of the cartridge frame and a second frame portion of the cartridge frame;
• (b) a drum shaft inserting step including inserting a drum shaft for rotatably supporting the photosensitive drum on said cartridge frame into a hole formed in the first frame portion of the cartridge frame from an outside of the first frame portion adjacent one longitudinal end portion of said photosensitive drum, penetrating the drum shaft through the photosensitive drum, and inserting the drum shaft penetrating the photosensitive drum into a hole formed in the second frame portion of the cartridge frame from an inside of the second frame portion adjacent the other longitudinal end portion of said photosensitive drum, wherein one and the other ends of the drum shaft are respectively supported on the first frame portion and the second frame portion of the cartridge frame, and wherein an area of said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end is engaged with a hole in said first frame portion and has projections and recesses thereon to increase friction with the hole;
• and
• (c) mounting on the drum shaft a preventing member for preventing the drum shaft from disengaging from the cartridge frame.

An assembling method for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus, said process cartridge comprising an electrophotographic photosensitive drum having a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon;

• a charging device for charging said photosensitive drum;
• a developing member for developing a latent image formed on said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning member for removing residual toner from said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning frame for supporting the photosensitive drum, charging device and the cleaning member;
• a developing frame for supporting the developing member and a toner container for containing toner to be used by the developing member, wherein said cleaning frame and said developing frame are rotatable relative to each other;
• said method comprising:
• (a) a disposing step of disposing the photosensitive drum between a side wall of a first frame portion and a side wall of a second frame portion of the cleaning frame, wherein said cleaning frame has a first projection outwardly projected from the side wall of the first frame portion at one longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum and a second projection outwardly projected from a side wall of a second frame portion at the other longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, wherein said photosensitive drum is provided with a spur gear at the one end thereof and a helical gear at the other end, wherein the helical gear receives force for driving the photosensitive drum when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly and transmits driving force for driving a developing roller as the developing member to the developing roller, and wherein said spur gear transmits driving force for driving the transfer roller, provided in the main assembly of the apparatus, to the transfer roller;
• (b) a drum shaft inserting step including inserting a drum shaft for rotatably supporting the photosensitive drum on said cleaning frame into a hole formed in the first projection, inserting the dram shaft into the cylinder through a hole formed in said spur gear, inserting the drum shaft to an outside of the cylinder through a hole of the helical gear, and inserting the drum shaft penetrating the photosensitive drum into a hole formed in the second projection, wherein one and the other end of the drum shaft are respectively supported on the first frame portion and the second frame portion of the cleaning frame by engagement with the holes formed in said first and second projections, and wherein an area of said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end is engaged with the hole in said first projection, and the area has projections and recesses thereon to increase friction with the hole;
• and
• (c) mounting on the drum shaft a preventing member for preventing the drum shaft from disengaging from the cleaning frame, wherein said preventing member is mounted to the drum shaft at the other end thereof longitudinally opposite the one end having the projections and recesses.

An assembling method for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an image forming apparatus, said process cartridge comprising an electrophotographic photosensitive drum having a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon;

• a charging device for charging said photosensitive drum;
• a developing member for developing a latent image formed on said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning member for removing residual toner from said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning frame for supporting the photosensitive drum, charging device and he cleaning member;
• a developing frame for supporting the developing member and a toner container for containing toner to be used by the developing member, wherein said cleaning frame and said developing frame are rotatable relative to each other;
• said method comprising:
• (a) a disposing step of disposing the photosensitive drum between a side wall of a first frame portion and a side wall of a second frame portion of the cleaning frame, wherein said cleaning frame has a first projection outwardly projected from a side wall of the first frame portion at one longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum and a second projection outwardly projected from a side wall of the second frame portion at the other longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, wherein said photosensitive drum is provided with a spur gear at the one end thereof and a helical gear at the other end, wherein the helical gear receives force for driving the photosensitive drum when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly and transmits driving force for driving the developing roller as the developing member to the developing roller, and wherein said spur gear transmits driving force for driving a transfer roller to the transfer roller, and wherein said helical gear is provided with a through hole through which a drum shaft is penetrated, and said hole is tapered such that a diameter thereof decreases from a drum shaft entrance side to an opposite side, and wherein said process cartridge further comprises a grounding member in the cylinder of said photosensitive drum, said grounding member being contacted to an inner surface of said cylinder and an outer surface of said drum shaft, wherein said grounding member electrically grounds said photosensitive drum to the main assembly through the drum shaft, and wherein said grounding member is mounted to said spur gear;
• (b) a drum shaft inserting step including inserting the drum shaft for rotatably supporting the photosensitive drum on said cleaning frame into a hole formed in a first projection, inserting the drum shaft into the cylinder through a hole formed in said spur gear, inserting the drum shaft to an outside of the cylinder through the hole of the helical gear along the tapered portion, and inserting the drum shaft penetrating the photosensitive drum into a hole formed in the second projection, wherein one end and the other end of the drum shaft are respectively supported on the first frame portion and the second frame portion of the cleaning frame by engagement with the holes, formed in said first and second projection, and wherein an area of said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end is engaged with the hole in said first projection, and the area has projections and recesses thereon to increase friction with the hole;
• and
• (c) mounting on the drum shaft a preventing member for preventing the drum shaft from disengaging from the cartridge frame, wherein said preventing member is mounted to the drum shaft at the other end thereof longitudinally opposite the end having the projections and recesses, and wherein said preventing member is in the form of a ring having an inside surface with an inward projection which is engaged with a groove formed on an outer periphery of said drum shaft.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for forming an image on a recording material, to which a process cartridge is detachably mountable comprising:

• means for detachably mounting a process cartridge which includes:
• a cartridge frame having a hole for engaging one end of a drum shaft;
• an electrophotographic photosensitive drum having a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon;
• process means actable on said photosensitive drum;
• a drum shaft for rotatably supporting said photosensitive drum on said cartridge frame, said drum shaft extending through said photosensitive drum and having a length sufficient to be supported by said cartridge frame at one end thereof and at the other end thereof, wherein an area of said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end is engaged with the hole in said cartridge frame and has projections and recesses thereon to increase friction with the hole;
• a preventing member for preventing said drum shaft from disengaging from said cartridge frame;
• and
• said apparatus further comprising:
• means for feeding the recording material.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for forming an image on a recording material, to which a process cartridge is detachably mountable comprising:

• means for detachably mounting a process cartridge which includes:
• an electrophotographic photosensitive drum having a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon;
• a charging device for charging said photosensitive drum;
• a developing member for developing a latent image formed on said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning member for removing residual toner from said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning frame for supporting the photosensitive drum, charging device and the cleaning member;
• a developing frame for supporting the developing member and a toner container for containing toner to be used by the developing member, wherein said cleaning frame and said developing frame are rotatable relative to each other;
• a drum shaft for rotatably supporting said photosensitive drum on said cleaning frame, said drum shaft extending through said photosensitive drum and having a length sufficient to be supported by said cleaning frame at one end thereof and at the other end thereof, wherein projections and recesses are provided on said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end to increase friction when the one end is engaged with a hole in the frame of the cartridge;
• a first projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a first frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent one longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said first projection having a hole with which the one end of said drum shaft is engaged a portion having the projections and recesses of;
• a second projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a second frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent the other longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said second projection having a hole with which the other end of said drum shaft is engaged;
• a preventing member for preventing said drum shaft from disengaging from said cleaning frame, wherein said one end of said drum shaft is press-fitted in said cartridge frame, and the other end thereof is prevented from disengaging from said cartridge frame by said preventing member;
• wherein said photosensitive drum is provided with a spur gear at one longitudinal end thereof and a helical gear at the other longitudinal end, wherein said preventing member is located nearer to said other longitudinal end than said one longitudinal end, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said helical gear receives driving force from the main assembly to rotate said photosensitive drum, and transmits the driving force to the developing member in the form of a developing roller, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said spur gear transmits driving force to a transfer roller provided in said main assembly;
• and
• said apparatus further comprising:
• means for feeding the recording material.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, for forming an image on a recording material, to which a process cartridge is detachably mountable comprising:

• means for detachably mounting a process cartridge which includes:
• an electrophotographic photosensitive drum having a cylinder and a photosensitive layer thereon;
• a charging roller for charging said photosensitive drum;
• a developing roller for developing a latent image formed on said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning blade for removing residual toner from said photosensitive drum;
• a cleaning frame for supporting the photosensitive drum, charging roller and the cleaning blade, wherein said cleaning frame is formed of plastic resin material;
• a developing frame for supporting the developing roller and a toner container for containing toner to be used by the developing roller, wherein said cleaning frame and said developing frame are rotatable relative to each other, and wherein said developing frame is of plastic resin material;
• a drum shaft for rotatably supporting said photosensitive drum on said cleaning frame, said drum shaft extending through said photosensitive drum and having a length sufficient to be supported by said cleaning frame at one end thereof and at the other end thereof, wherein said drum shaft is formed of metal, and wherein projections and recesses are provided on said drum shaft on its outer peripheral surface adjacent the one end to increase friction when the one end is engaged with a hole in the cleaning frame;
• a first projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a first frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent one longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said first projection having a hole with which the one end of said drum shaft is engaged, wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said first projection is guided by a guide on the main assembly;
• a second projection projecting outwardly from a lateral wall of a second frame portion of said cleaning frame adjacent the other longitudinal end of said photosensitive drum, said second projection having a hole with which the other end of said drum shaft is engaged, wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said second projection is guided by a guide on the main assembly;
• a preventing member for preventing said drum shaft from disengaging from said cleaning frame, wherein said preventing member is in the form of a ring having all inside surface with an inward projection which is engaged with a groove formed in an outer periphery of said drum shaft, wherein said one end of said drum shaft is press-fitted in said cleaning frame, and the other end thereof is prevented from disengaging from said cleaning frame by said preventing member, wherein said preventing member is formed of plastic resin material;
• wherein said photosensitive drum is provided with a spur gear at one longitudinal end thereof and a helical gear at the other longitudinal end, wherein said preventing member is located nearer to said other longitudinal end than said one longitudinal end, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said belical gear receives driving force from the main assembly to rotate said photosensitive drum, and transmits the driving force to the developing roller, and wherein when said process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, said spur gear transmits driving force to a transfer roller provided in said main assembly;
• and
• said cartridge further comprises:
• a grounding member in the cylinder of said photosensitive drum, said grounding member being contacted to an inner surface of said cylinder and an outer surface of said drum shaft, wherein said grounding member electrically grounds said photosensitive drum to the main assembly through said drum shaft, and wherein said grounding member is mounted to said spur gear;
• and
• said apparatus further comprising:
• means for feeding the recording material.