Process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

A process cartridge removably mounted to a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, said process cartridge comprising:

• an electrophotographic photosensitive drum;
• a charge member for charging said electrophotographic photosensitive drum;
• a drum frame for supporting said electrophotographic photosensitive drum and said charge member;
• a developing member for developing a latent image formed on said electrophotographic photosensitive drum;
• a developing toner frame supporting said developing member and having a toner containing portion for containing toner used by said developing member for development and being rockably connected to said drum frame;
• an exposure opening provided along a longitudinal direction of said electrophotographic photosensitive drum to pass information light from the main body of the image forming apparatus to be illuminated on said electrophotographic photosensitive drum when said process cartridge is mounted to the main body of the image forming apparatus;
• a projecting member protruded from said drum frame outwardly in a direction coaxial with said electrophotographic photosensitive drum to be supported by a support member of the main body of the image forming apparatus when said process cartridge is mounted thereto;
• a contact portion provided on said drum frame to be contacted with a fixed member of the main body of the image forming apparatus when said process cartridge is mounted thereto, and to prevent said process cartridge from rotating toward a rotational direction of said electrophotographic photosensitive drum;
• a memory disposed to said drum frame to store information to be transmitted to the main body of the image forming apparatus, and
• plural electric contact portions of said process cartridge for connecting themselves electrically to plural electric contact portions of the main body of the image forming apparatus to transmit information between said memory and the main body of the image forming apparatus, wherein said plural electric contact portions of the process cartridge are provided downstream of the memory in a mounting direction in which said process cartridge is mounted to a predetermined mount position provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the plural electric contact portions of the process cartridge are disposed on the drum frame;
• and
• wherein said process cartridge is mountable onto the main body of the image forming apparatus in a direction transverse to an axis of said electrophotographic photosensitive drum such that said developing toner frame trails said drum.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which a process cartridge can removably be mounted and which forms an image on a recording medium, said image forming apparatus comprising:

• (a) mounting means capable of removably mounting a process cartridge including a drum frame, a developing frame rockably connected to the drum frame, an electrophotographic photosensitive drum provided on the drum frame, developing means disposed on the developing frame for developing a latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a memory disposed to the drum frame for storing information to be transmitted to a main body of said image forming apparatus, plural electric contact portions of the process cartridge for connecting themselves electrically to plural electric contact portions of the main body of the image forming apparatus to transmit information between the memory and the main body of the image forming apparatus, wherein the plural electric contact portions of said process cartridge are provided downstream of the memory in a mounting direction in which said process cartridge is mounted to a predetermined mount position provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the plural electric contact portions of said process cartridge are disposed on the drum frame, and positioning means for positioning the drum frame with respect to the main body of said image forming apparatus when the process cartridge is mounted thereto, wherein said process cartridge is mountable onto the main body of the image forming apparatus in a direction transverse to an axis of said electrophotographic photosensitive drum such that said developing frame trails said drum frame;
• (b) the plural electric contact portions of said main body to be contacted with the plural electric contact portions of said process cartridge;
• and
• (c) convey means for conveying a recording medium.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which a process cartridge can removably be mounted and which forms an image on a recording medium, said image forming apparatus comprising:

• (a) a mounting member capable of removably mounting a process cartridge including an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a charge member for charging the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum frame for supporting the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and the charge member, a developing member for developing a latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a developing toner frame supporting the developing member and having a toner containing portion for containing toner used by the developing member for development and being rockably connected to the drum frame, an exposure opening provided along a longitudinal direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum to pass information light from a main body of said image forming apparatus to be illuminated on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum when the process cartridge is mounted to said main body of said image forming apparatus, a projecting member protruded from the drum frame outwardly in a direction coaxial with an axis of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum to be supported by a support member of said main body of said image forming apparatus when the process cartridge is mounted thereto, a contact portion provided on the drum frame to be contacted with a fixed member of said main body of said image forming apparatus when the process cartridge is mounted thereto and to prevent the process cartridge from rotating toward a rotational direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a memory disposed on the drum frame to store information to be transmitted to said main body of said image forming apparatus, and plural electric contact portions of said process cartridge for connecting themselves electrically to plural electric contact portions of the main body of the image forming apparatus to transmit information between the memory and the main body of the image forming apparatus, wherein the plural electric contact portions of said process cartridge are provided downstream of the memory in a mounting direction in which said process cartridge is mounted to a predetermined mount position provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus, and the plural electric contact portions of said process cartridge are disposed on the drum frame, wherein the memory is disposed forwardly of the exposure opening in a mounting direction along which the process cartridge is mounted to said main body of said image forming apparatus, and wherein said process cartridge is mountable onto the main body of the image forming apparatus in a direction transverse to an axis of said electrophotographic photosensitive drum such that said developing toner frame trails said drum frame;
• (b) a light emitting member for emitting information light incident on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum through the exposure opening of the process cartridge mounted on said mounting member;
• (c) a fixed member to be contacted with the contact portion of the process cartridge mounted on said mounting member;
• (d) convey means for conveying a recording medium;
• and
• (e) the electric contact portions of said main body of said image forming apparatus to be contacted with the electric contact portions of said process cartridge.