×

Image forming apparatus provided with cartridge for accommodating waste toner therein

  • US 9,244,427 B2
  • Filed: 11/25/2014
  • Issued: 01/26/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

  • a main frame;

    a plurality of process cartridges including a plurality of photosensitive drums and a plurality of drum-cleaning units, the plurality of process cartridges being provided in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of photosensitive drums, the plurality of photosensitive drums being provided in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of drum-cleaning units, each of the plurality of drum-cleaning units being configured to collect waste toner on a corresponding photosensitive drum;

    a cartridge-supporting body configured to support the plurality of process cartridges and be movable between an internal position inside the main frame and an external position outside of the main frame;

    a belt configured to confront the plurality of process cartridges when the cartridge-supporting body supporting the plurality of process cartridges is in the internal position;

    a belt cleaning unit configured to collect waste toner on the belt;

    a waste toner cartridge configured to accommodate both waste toner collected from the plurality of photosensitive drums by the plurality of drum-cleaning units and waste toner collected from the belt by the belt cleaning unit; and

    a collective conveying unit provided in the cartridge-supporting body and configured to aggregate waste toner collected from the plurality of photosensitive drums by the plurality of drum-cleaning units and to convey collectively the aggregated waste toner to the waste toner cartridge,wherein the waste toner cartridge is provided in the main frame when the cartridge-supporting body is positioned at the internal position and when the cartridge-supporting body is positioned at the external position, andwherein the waste toner cartridge connects with the collective conveying unit when the cartridge-supporting body is positioned at the internal position, and the waste toner cartridge disconnects with the collective conveying unit when the cartridge-supporting body is positioned at the external position.

View all claims
  • 1 Assignment
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×