Patent ID: 6308028
Filing Date: 2001-10-23
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
An electrophotographic process cartridge that is removably mountable onto a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, said process cartridge comprising:a casing member containing a rotatable photosensitive drum, said casing member having a first opening for passing light to the drum for forming a latent image thereon and a second opening for transferring developed images from the drum to a transfer material, and the drum being mounted in said casing member in a front portion thereof relative to a general insertion direction of said process cartridge into the image forming apparatus;a driven gear co-axial with the drum;a charging member operable on the drum for charging the drum;a developing member, operable on the drum for developing a latent image formed on the drum;a cleaning member operable on the drum for cleaning the drum; anda protuberance adjacent one end of the drum and protruding outwardly of said casing member at one side thereof, said protuberance forming a guide member for guiding said process cartridge in the general insertion direction when said process cartridge is inserted into the image forming apparatus,wherein said process cartridge is adapted to be inserted into an operative position in the image forming apparatus in the general insertion direction, which is transverse to an axis of the drum and generally in a direction from the toner supply to said cleaning member,wherein an earth contact is provided by said protuberance at said one side of said casing member for earthing the drum with respect to the image forming apparatus when said process cartridge is mounted on the main body, andwherein a charging bias contact and a developing bias contact are provided at an opposite side of said casing member, which is opposite said one side, for receiving a charging bias and a developing bias, respectively, from the image forming apparatus when said process cartridge is mounted on the main body, the charging bias contact and the developing bias contact being disposed adjacent to and respectively forwardly and rearwardly of the axis of the drum relative to the general insertion direction.