Electrophotography – Having particular structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-20
2002-09-03
Lee, Susan S. Y. (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Having particular structure
C029S469000, C399S113000, C399S411000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06445894
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which forms an image by placing image information on a transfer material by using electrophotographic technology.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus will be described in the following. In FIG.
8
and
FIG. 9
is shown a conventional method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, and
FIG. 10
is an illustrative diagram showing a state of contact between a photoreceptor unit and a developing roller in a conventional method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus.
FIG. 8
, FIG.
9
and
FIG. 10
show a method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus in a single component developing system using a non-magnetic toner. Firstly, a process unit
1
is described. The process unit
1
comprises a photoreceptor unit
2
and a developing unit
3
. The process unit
1
is the control center of the image forming apparatus.
In
FIG. 8
, the photoreceptor unit
2
comprises a photoreceptor
4
, a charged roller
5
, a cleaning blade
6
, and a discharge lamp
7
. The photoreceptor
4
has a surface coated with a layer of organic photoconductive material. The charged roller
5
, cleaning blade
6
and discharge lamp
7
are disposed around the photoreceptor
4
.
In
FIG. 8
, the developing unit
3
includes a developing roller
8
and a toner box
9
. The toner box
9
has a function to feed a toner
10
to the developing roller
8
. A stirring member
11
is fitted to the toner box
9
. The stirring member
11
serves to stir the toner
10
. The toner
10
is non-magnetic.
In the first place, as shown in
FIG. 8
, the photoreceptor unit
2
is assembled, followed by the developing unit
3
. Secondly, a pin
12
is inserted into a pin hole
2
a
of the photoreceptor unit
2
and a pin hole
3
a
of the developing unit
3
, thereby combining the photoreceptor unit
2
and developing unit
3
with each other. Further, as shown in
FIG. 9
, a spring
13
is hooked over a projection
2
b
of the photoreceptor unit
2
and a projection
3
b
of the developing unit
3
. The photoreceptor unit
2
and developing unit
3
are pulled to each other by the tensile force of the spring
13
, thereby causing the photoreceptor
4
and developing roller
8
to come in contact with each other. The toner
10
is filled into the toner box
9
of the developing unit
3
. In this way, the process unit
1
of a conventional image forming apparatus has been manufactured.
The mechanism of the process unit
1
will be briefly described in the following with reference to FIG.
9
. When the photoreceptor
4
is rotated clockwise, the area coming in contact with the charged roller
5
will be uniformly charged with approximately −600V. Next, when a laser beam as shown by arrow
50
is applied by an exposure means (not shown) to the surface of photoreceptor
4
, the electric potential of the area exposed to the laser beam will be increased to approximately −100v. An electrostatic latent image having such different potentials is formed on the surface of photoreceptor
4
. When negatively charged toner
10
is pressed against the electrostatic latent image by the developing roller
8
, the toner electrostatically sticks to the photoreceptor
4
, then the toner image is visualized and appears on the photoreceptor
4
one after another. The toner image is transferred by a transfer means (not shown) onto printing paper (not shown). After that, the toner remaining on the surface of photoreceptor
4
is removed by the cleaning blade
6
, thereby physically cleaning the surface of photoreceptor
4
. Also, the residual charge of the surface of photoreceptor
4
is eliminated by the discharge lamp
7
, thereby electrically cleaning the surface of photoreceptor
4
. These processes are repeated before going to the next image forming process.
In such conventional method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus, as shown in
FIG. 10
, when the developing unit
3
is combined with the photoreceptor unit
2
, the surface of photoreceptor
4
comes into direct contact with the surface of developing roller
8
. Accordingly, when the image forming apparatus is operated in the functional test before delivery of the product, a rubber portion
8
a
of developing roller
8
comes into direct contact with the surface of photoreceptor
4
. As a result, the rubber portion
8
a
of developing roller
8
rubs against the surface of photoreceptor
4
. This may cause generation of scratches
14
on the surface of photoreceptor
4
during only one turn of rotation before the toner
10
sticks to the developing roller
8
. In case scratches
14
are generated on the surface of photoreceptor
4
, the electrostatic sensitivity of the area of scratches
14
will be lowered, and consequently, the toner
10
will become hard to stick to the scratched area of the photoreceptor. Excessive scratches will cause generation of defective products. As a result, it will lead to lowering of the product yield and the manufacturing efficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method of manufacturing an image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises the steps of:
(a) forming a photoreceptor unit having a photoreceptor;
(b) forming a developing unit having a developing roller and a toner;
(c) applying the toner to the surface of the developing roller; and
(d) setting up a combination of the developing unit having the developing roller with the toner applied and the photoreceptor unit.
Preferably, the step of setting up a combination of the developing unit and the photoreceptor unit mentioned includes a process of establishing contact between the developing roller with the toner applied to the surface and the photoreceptor to set up a combination of the photoreceptor unit and the developing unit.
Preferably, the method further comprises a step of
(e) operating an assembled image forming apparatus to perform functional tests of the image forming apparatus.
In the above configuration, there exists a toner between the photoreceptor surface and the developing unit surface. Accordingly, when the photoreceptor unit and the developing unit are combined with each other, the surface of developing roller itself does not come into direct contact with the surface of photoreceptor. The toner existing between the photoreceptor surface and the developing unit surface serves to function as a lubricant. In this way, generation of scratches on the surface of the photoreceptor, due to the developing roller itself, may be prevented. As a result, an excellent image will be formed. It gives rise to the improvement of the manufacturing efficiency of the image forming apparatus.
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Hara Yukinori
Narahara Shuji
Lee Susan S. Y.
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
RatnerPrestia
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