Electrophotographic image forming apparatus

• US 7,155,141 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2004
• Issued: 12/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Miyabe, Shigeo, Kotsuka, Hideki, Sato, Masaaki
• Primary Examiner(s): TRAN, HOAN H
• Application Number:
  US10/960,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20050244188A1
• Time in Patent Office: 809 Days
• Field of Search: 399/107, 399/110, 399/111, 399/112, 399/114
• US Class Current: 399/114
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 21/1832 Shielding members, shutter, e.g. light, heat shielding, prevention of toner scattering
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/0119 Linear arrangement adjacent plural transfer points
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/1609 protective arrangements for preventing damage
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2221/1884 Projections on process cartridge for guiding mounting thereof in main machine

Abstract

A plurality of process cartridges are detachably mountable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus along a substantially vertical line. The cartridges each have an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, process means actable on the drum, and a drum shutter movable between first and second positions. The apparatus includes mounting portions for detachably mounting the cartridges, an opening for permitting passage of the cartridges into the apparatus, a covering member for covering the opening, and a pressing member for moving the shutter to the second position thereof when the covering member moves from an open position to a closed position. An angle of rotation of the shutter rotated from the first to the second position in the bottommost cartridge is larger than an angle of rotation of the shutter rotated from the first position to the second position in another one of said process cartridges.

Claims

1. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, wherein a plurality of process cartridges are detachably mountable to said electrophotographic image forming apparatus along a substantially vertical line, the process cartridges each having an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, process means actable on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum shutter rotatably supported on a cartridge frame configured to move between a first position for covering an exposure portion so as not to expose the electrophotographic photosensitive drum through the cartridge frame and a second position, retracted from the first position, for uncovering the exposure portion to expose the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, said apparatus comprising:

mounting portions configured and positioned to detachably mount the process cartridges;

an opening for permitting passage of the process cartridges into said image forming apparatus;

a covering member configured and positioned to cover said opening and being movable between a close position for closing said opening and an open position, retracted from said close position, for opening said opening;

a pressing member configured and positioned to abut the drum shutter to move the drum shutter to the second position thereof when said covering member moves from the open position to the close position, wherein the angle of rotation of the drum shutter rotated by said pressing member from the first position to the second position in one of the process cartridges that takes a bottommost position among the process cartridges is larger than the angle of rotation of the drum shutter rotated by said pressing member from the first position to the second position in another one of the process cartridges.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pressing member is provided in said covering member.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising shutter releasing means configured and positioned to move the drum shutters of the process cartridges from the first position to a third position, which is away from the first position by a predetermined angle in interrelation with movement of said covering member from the open position to the close position when the process cartridges are mounted on said mounting means, wherein said pressing member rotates said drum shutters from the third position to the second position.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said pressing member includes a plurality of projections provided on an inside of said covering member, wherein said projections are disposed corresponding to the respective process cartridges, and the height of projection from said covering member for the bottommost process cartridge is larger than heights of projections of the other process cartridges.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the heights of projections of the other process cartridges are substantially the same.

6. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said covering member includes a feeding belt configured and positioned to feed the recording material, wherein said pressing member is disposed at each of one and the other sides of said feeding belt, interposing said feeding belt with respective to a direction crossing a feeding direction of the recording material.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when one of the process cartridge is set in a mounting position mounted on one of said mounting portions, the drum shutter of said one of the process cartridges is rotated substantially downwardly.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the angles of rotation from the first positions to the respective second positions in said process cartridges other than the bottommost one are the same.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording material is accommodated in a cassette which is disposed below the bottommost process cartridge, and is fed substantially upwardly by feeding means.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member, when said process cartridges are mounted on said mounting portion, moves the drum shutter from the first position to the second position in interrelation with movement of said covering member from the open position to the close position.