Image forming apparatus, drum unit, image forming module, and method of insertion and removal of a damper into and from an image carrier drum

A method of manufacturing a latent image carrier with a thin-walled cylinder and a cylindrical damper disposed inside the thin-walled cylinder, the cylindrical damper including an elastic body, a first end and a second end, opposite the first end along an axis of the cylindrical damper, said second end being open in an axial direction, the method comprising:

• providing, at the first end, a wall extending inward toward the axis of the cylindrical damper;
• providing the thin-walled cylinder;
• providing a through-hole in the wall, said through-hole extending along the axial direction;
• providing, at an outermost end of the first end along the axis of the cylindrical damper, a first diameter;
• providing, at an outermost end of the second end along the axis of the cylindrical damper, a second diameter larger than the first diameter;
• placing a first end of the cylindrical damper in a first end of the thin-walled cylinder;
• and
• press fitting the cylindrical damper into the thin-walled cylinder by pressing the first end of the cylindrical damper with a jig inserted into the cylindrical damper,
• wherein the pressing includes pressing the jig into contact with a surface of the cylindrical damper perpendicular to the axial direction, and
• further comprising providing a gap between the jig and an interior surface of the cylindrical damper, the interior surface disposed at a non-perpendicular angle to the axial direction.