Patent ID: 9201382
Filing Date: 2015-12-01
Classification: G03G

Abstract:
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 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 waste toner cartridge configured to accommodate the waste toner collected from the plurality of photosensitive drums by the plurality of cleaning units; a contact-separation mechanism configured to move the cartridge-supporting body between a contact position where the plurality of photosensitive drums are in contact with the belt and a separated position where the plurality of photosensitive drums are out of contact with the belt when the cartridge-supporting body supporting the plurality of process cartridges is in the internal position; and a collective conveying unit provided in the main frame 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.